Sermon on the Mount recorded in the V. VI. and VII Chapters of Saint Matthew Reade these at least once a week VIII Then follow the Acts of the Apostles which abundantly declare their authority by whose Ministry we have received the Gospel and bid us attend to their Instructions which are left us in their Epistles as the words of men divinely inspired And in these content your selves with those parts of them which are most easy and plain and of general use and concernment and meddle not presently with those which are hard and obscure and which relate to some particular cases which now are not so well known as to make their sense apparent to every one For it is a very ill sign when you stand puzzling your selves about some dark passages in the Apostolical Writings when there are plain ones in abundance to exercise your thoughts I will direct you to some that will be fittest for your Meditation In the Epistle to the Romans reade often the XII and XIII Chapters with the XIII of the first to the Corinthians the IV. V. VI. to the Ephesians III. and IV. to the Colossians IV. and V. of the first to the Thessalonians and to omit others the I. II. X. XI XII XIII of the Epistle to the Hebrews the whole Epistles of Saint James and of Saint Peter And when you reade them let it be with a design to grow better rather then more knowing And then think you grow better when you are made more humble more sensible of God's love and your own undeservings more thankfull more meek and patient more submissive to God's Providence and to your Governours whether civil or spiritual private or publick IX When you are thus disposed by these and such like Christian Vertues you may venture to reade the harder parts of Scripture and not be in danger to wrest them as those doe who are settled upon no principles to your own destruction For then you will not be forward to frame a sense of those places out of your own head but confess your ignorance and look upon them as containing things not necessary to be known for all necessary things are plainly set down and perhaps some of those very things about which you trouble your selves are else-where delivered in clearer words As you may be satisfied if you take the next opportunity to consult with those whose lips are to preserve knowledge Which is the best way to be resolved in such cases X. As for other good Books besides the Scripture you may find some time to reade them And the less you have on other days spend the Lord's days and other Holy days the more seriously in this work When I would advise you to reade V. VI. and VII of Saint Matthew with some part of the Whole Duty of Man And when you have made some proficiency in knowledg reade Dr. Hammond's PRACTICAL CATECHISM where you will find that Sermon of Christ's upon the Mount expounded XI But whatsoever godly Book you reade whether the Holy Scriptures or any other be sure you indeavour to come away bettered by the reading of them For if you get no good by them that very thing will incline you at last to slight and neglect them as many do we see the hearing of good Sermons because they do not perceive that they or others are at all the better for them but after much hearing there is little doeing of God's will But this the Scripture it self foretold and hath exactly described such people as are ever learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth 2 Tim. III. 5 6 7. and intended hereby to breed in every one of us a due caution least we be of that unprofitable number Which you must prevent by being more serious attentive and diligent in reading holy Books for that end for which they were writ and hearing Sermons not for fashion sake but that you may be taught or remembred of your Duty and excited or directed to doe it with greater care and constancy XII And if you meet with the very same thing over and over again either in reading or hearing do not therefore nauseate it or grow weary of it or pass it by hastily and carelesly But rather look upon it as a very usefull Truth of which you have great need because it comes so often in your way and thankfully acknowledging that God is very kind to you in putting you so frequently in mind of that which is so necessary to your Salvation give the greater heed to it and ponder it with such seriousness as a thing of that moment deserves CHAP. XVI A necessary qualification to receive benefit by all this IF every one had so much Humility and such a hearty desire to be truly good wrought in their Souls betime they would reade and hear God's word to better purpose I. Therefore Parents should above all things instill this into their Children very early how necessary it is and how much it becomes them to be humble and that by no means they grow conceited of their own parts or understanding but be desirous to learn of every one with simplicity and meekness without any other design but to know their Duty II. This we may be sure would dispose them to receive benefit by the Holy Scriptures and by all other good instructions For it is the very qualification which Christ requires to make a person fit to be one of his Disciples that He first become like a little Child XVIII Matth. 3. There is no good to be done upon him in Christ's School unless he first learn to be humble subject to his Teachers simple hearted and without guile contented with a little heartily in love with those that take care of him And when he is thus freed from pride ambition desire of Riches or any thing else but onely of Knowledge as little Children naturally are till the seeds of those vices be stirred up in them by others he will be a fit soil to receive Christ's heavenly Doctrine III. And doubtless he had reason to say it who told this Nation long ago that it is for want of acquainting Childhood and Youth with such plain Rules as this which the Scripture it self delivers for our right understanding it that the Scripture either seems obscure and difficult to them or that they mistake it where it seems evident IV. For when they grow to mens estate or are engaged in worldly buisiness or come to honour before they be acquainted with the Holy Scripture and especially these plain directions which it gives us for our profiting by it one of these three things is the consequence of it The seeming difficulty of the Scripture either makes them to seek for other Rules which they apprehend more easy or 2. not to care for any Rule of Faith at all or else 3. to transform this which God hath given for the renewing his image in them into the nature of their corrupt affections V. Let this
up the principal things they observe carefully in their hearts that they may find them there upon occasion VIII For which end Masters and Mistresses should take care their Servants may have time to go to Church or rather they should see them go and bring them thither saying with the holy men of God I and my house will serve the Lord. IX And if they would help them to learn some short Prayer by heart besides the Lord's Prayer it would be a means to possess them with a sense of their Duty and to make them more confident of God's gracious assistence in the doing of it Instruct them at least after you have read to them their Duty to God and their Duty to their Neighbour to say Lord have mercy upon me and write all these thy Laws in my heart I beseech Thee and this Collect O God whose Blessed Son was manifested that He might destroy the works of the Devil and make us the sons of God and heirs of eternal life Grant me I beseech Thee that having this hope I may purify my self even as He is pure that when He shall appear again with power and great glory I may be made like unto Him in his eternal and glorious Kingdom where with Thee O Father and Thee O Holy Ghost He liveth and reigneth ever one God world without end Amen X. There is reason Masters and Mistresses should be at this pains with their Servants who cannot reade if they consider how much better Servants they will be to them when they are become the Servants of God and that they themselves have a Master in Heaven who expects they should not merely use their Bodies well but look also after their Souls so far at least as to help them to the means of Christian Instruction This is a thing indeed much neglected and if their work be but well done some Masters and Mistresses concern themselves no farther But such persons plainly declare that they love themselves better then God else they would not be satisfied till God's work was done also and carried on together with their own CHAP. XV. Directions to those that can reade I. AS for those who are able to reade I need not sure advise them to use that ability but onely to use it well avoiding vain and idle especially all filthy Books and being conversant in those that are good and profitable such as will improve their minds in usefull knowledg or excite in them devout affections towards God or direct them in the practice of Justice and Mercy of Temperance and Chastity and of all other Christian Vertues II. But above all other Books acquaint your selves with the Holy Scriptures which Timothy S. Paul says had known from a child and were able to make him wise unto Salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus 2 Tim. III. 15. Which is a high commendation of the Old Scriptures and a great incouragement to study those Holy Books from whence we may reap the greater benefit now that we have the New Scriptures added to them which contain the Faith in Christ Jesus which the Apostle speaks of You do but pretend to love God which you acknowledge is a part of the Duty you owe Him if you do not seek after his mind and will which is onely to be found in the Holy Scriptures III. And of all other parts of the Scripture I have observed young people delight as it is natural to doe in reading the Historical Books of the Old Testament Which truly are writ with such a spirit of Piety as is to be found in no other History designing visibly these two things First to instill into the people a belief of Divine Providence which governs all things and presides not onely over Nations but particular Persons who therefore ought to have God in all their thoughts to whom all events are ascribed by the holy History And secondly to nurse them up in a sense of the difference of Good and Evil the former of which always received remarkable testimonies of God's Favour and the other was ever attended with the effects of his severe Displeasure IV. Do not think therefore that you have profitably read these Books unless you come away from the reading of them more sensible of these two things and more affected with them Possessed that is with a more lively apprehension of God's overruling Power and Providence whereby all things are disposed and therefore resolved to commit your selves unto Him in well-doing and to make that difference between Good and Evil that He doth resting satisfied with what He is pleased to order when you have taken care to order your selves so as to avoid what He hates and to follow that which He loves V. But above all other Books of the Old Testament the Psalms are of most general use and therefore ordered by our Church to be read over publickly once every month Some of which you would doe well to get by heart that you may say them upon all occasions as anciently they were wont to doe nothing being more ordinary then to hear the Husbandman chanting them as he followed the Plow the Seaman as he sate at the Helm the Waterman at his Oar the Weaver at his Loom the good Houswife at her Spindle or her Wheel nay the poor Ditcher sang them at his Spade and the very Children in the streets In short they suckt these in with their Mothers milk and from their very infancy as soon as they could learn any thing were taught a smattering of them before they could speak perfectly such a love they had to the sweet Musick of these Holy Songs VI. The very first of which will put you in mind of your Duty and of the Happiness it will bring you if you doe it faithfully Let that therefore and the rest that are of most general use and relate not merely to David's present condition or to some publick calamity be read most frequently and pondered most seriously Such are the VIII XV. XIX XXXIII XXXIV CIII CIV CXIX CXXXIX CXLV with many other which every one may observe for his own use particularly the VII Penitential Psalms which are most proper when you are in a sad afflicted condition or bewail any Sin you have committed to which they may be also applied They are the VI. XXXII XXXVIII LI. CII CXXX CXLIII VII But when all this is done you must chiefly reade the Books of the New Testament or Covenant made with us in Jesus Christ to which the Books of the Old Testament refer you as the perfection of that Knowledg which was but obscurely delivered by them And first the Holy Gospels which mostly contain the History of our Saviour's Birth Life Death Resurrection and Ascention in all which principally observe the mighty power of God giving Testimony unto Him and declaring Him to be the Son of God Whom therefore you are bound to obey and in order thereunto study what his Will is which is most fully delivered in the
Lesson therefore as He advises of becoming like little Children throughly be planted in the hearts of Children and then Knowledg in other parts of Scripture will grow up with them and Faith thus planted in humility while their hearts are tender and easy to be wrought on by this plain and familiar Precept will take deep root and increase more and more as they do in strength and stature For though at the first their Faith be but as a grain of Mustard-seed yet having in the Spring time got the start of Pride and desire of worldly wealth or greatness it will afterward flourish in all heavenly knowledge and fructify in every good word and work VI. And above all other pieces of Humility it is absolutely necessary that Children be brought up to a great reverence of God's Ministers and a high opinion of their Calling Place and Persons If Parents or Guardians would teach them to honour them as their spiritual Fathers and to look upon them as men appointed by God to take care of their best part their immortal Souls and to bring Divine blessings to them If they would tell them Children these are the men by whom you are baptized and made Christians by these you must therefore be instructed and confirmed also in Religion and assured more and more of God's blessing it would have a mighty effect upon them and dispose them for all the good they may hereafter reape by them Whereas those words of reproach or undervaluing which they now daily hear must needs have the quite contrary effect or at least for want of such Admonitions and frequent inculcating the respect honour and esteem which is due to God's Ministers they mind so little what they say that when they become capable of it they receive no benefit by them A short Prayer tor the Morning ALmighty God and most mercifull Father I most humbly bow down my self before Thee to worship thy Divine Majesty by whom I was brought into the world and have been preserved and provided for all my life long and now this last night blessed be thy Goodness protected from all Dangers and raised up in health and safety to see the light of another day I thank Thee O Lord for these and all the rest of thy Mercies especially for thy singular Love in Christ Jesus beseeching Thee to awaken and preserve in me such a lively sense thereof that I may never prove ungratefull to Him but constantly doe Him all faithfull service Particularly this day I earnestly implore the assistence of his Holy Spirit to inable me to keep those Vows that are upon me not to follow nor be led by worldly and carnal Lusts but to obey thy holy Will and Commandments and to walk in the same all the days of my life Help me Good Lord in my place and condition to perform my Duty towards Thee and towards my Neighbour with such care fidelity and chearfulness that I may with some confidence present my self again before Thee in the Evening and comfortably hope for thy continued good Providence over me To which I humbly recommend thy Church and Houshold beseeching Thee to keep it in thy true Religion and to defend it evermore by thy mighty Power through Jesus Christ our Lord. In whose most blessed Name and words I still beseech Thee to be mercifull to me and to all thy people saying Our Father c. A short Prayer for the Evening I Thank Thee O Lord of Heaven and Earth that by thy mercifull Providence I am here prostrate again before Thee not onely in health and safety of body but in integrity of heart I hope and with sincere purposes to continue always thy faithfull Servant Pardon O most mercifull Father whatsoever I have done or omitted this day contrary to my resolutions and obligations Pitty my great weaknesses and accept of my honest endeavours to keep a good Conscience void of offence towards Thee and towards Man Which that I may doe every day better and better vouchsafe me the assistence of thy special Grace to strengthen me in the performance of all my Duty That where I have been wont to slip I may be more watchfull and where I have been negligent I may use the greater diligence and so continue thy Child a lively Member of Christ and an Inheritour of thy heavenly Kingdom And hear the Prayers of thy whole Church which have been made this day for every member of the same especially for our Sovereign Lord the KING for all that minister under him in holy or civil things for all that are distressed in mind body or estate beseeching Thee to dispense thy Graces and Blessings to every one of them sutable to their several necessities And be my mercifull Protectour all this night and after a refreshing Rest raise me up again in the morning with a thankfull heart to Thee for thy care over me fully resolved continually to mortify all my evil and corrupt Affections and daily to proceed in all Vertue and Godliness of living through Jesus Christ our Saviour In whose Name and words I commend my self to thy mercy saying Our Father c. A Prayer for one of riper years before the receiving of Baptism O Lord the Creatour of the World and Redeemer of Mankind I fall down before Thee to acknowledge that I am thine and to beseech Thee though I have offended Thee to receive me into thy service again Pardon good Lord all the Follies of my Childhood with all the Sins Negligences and Ignorances of my riper years Let them all be done away in that Fountaïn which Thou hast set open for us to wash in and be clean I desire to be admitted thither and intend there to devote my self intirely to Thee renouncing the Devil the World and the Flesh and resolving obediently to keep thy holy will and Commandments and to walk in the same all the days of my life Vouchsafe me O Lord the assistence of thy Holy Spirit that I may both seriously make and faithfully keep those holy Vows and Promises Preserve in me a perpetual remembrance of them that I may never by any Sin lose so great a Grace as Thou intendest to bestow upon me but always continue a lively Member of Christ and an Heir of his heavenly Kingdom To which I beseech Thee at last to bring me through the Merits of Christ Jesus Amen A Prayer for one that intends to be Confirmed O Most Blessed God by whose grace I was called into a state of Salvation when I was Baptized and from whom cometh every good thought desire and purpose which I have since felt in my heart Assist me I beseech Thee in the new dedication which I am going to make of my self unto Thee whose I am and resolve to be to the end of my days Fill me O Lord with such a lively sense of the honour Thou doest me in admitting me into thy Service that I may give up my self not onely with the full but with the most chearfull consent of my heart to believe and doe whatsoever Thou wouldst have me And then be pleased to confirm me in thy Grace and to strengthen me with might by thy Holy Spirit in the inner man that I may ever discern and chuse and follow those things which are acceptable in thy sight Arm me good Lord against all the Temptations of the World the Flesh and the Devil with a will stedfastly resolved never to yield to any of them but to persist faithfully in the performance of my Vow which was made in my name when I was baptized and which I now intend with my own mouth to ratify openly before 〈◊〉 Church Whose devout Prayers I beseech Thee to hear for me through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Prayer after Confirmation ALmighty and everliving God who hast vouchsafed to regenerate me by Water and the Holy Ghost and also 〈◊〉 farther certified me 〈…〉 the hands of thy Minister lately laid on me of thy Favour and gracious Goodness towards me Accept I most humbly beseech Thee of my hearty thanks for such great and undeserved Benefits and continue in me those good thoughts desires and purposes which I found then in my heart to persist in faithfull Obedience to Thee for ever For which end be pleased daily to impart unto me more and more of the Holy Spirit to preserve me in thy fear and love and to inable me to doe all the rest of my Duty not onely towards Thee but towards my Neighbour Especially to those by whom as thy Stewards thy heavenly Mysteries are conveyed to us that reverently attending to their Instructions and receiving their godly Admonitions and obediently following their Guidance and direction I may be finally owned for one of thy good and faithfull Servants at that Day when the great Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls shall appear again to our Salvation To Him with Thee O Father and the Holy Ghost be eternal praises Amen They that need Prayers for other particular occasions may be furnished in a Book called the Devout Christian c. THE END The Contents Chap. I. Of the Duty pag. 1. Chap. II. Of the Necessity of this Duty p. 7. Chap. III. Of the Ends for which it was instituted p. 14. Chap. IV. Of Preparation for it p. 23. Chap. V. A Prayer for that morning when you intend to receive Which may be used any time before p. 39. Chap. VI. The manner of Receiving p. 46. Chap. VII Meditations and Prayers afterward p. 81. Chap. VIII Directions for a godly Life sutable to this holy Communion p. 99. Chap. IX Touching Doubts and Scruples p. 114. Chap. X. Directions in case of frequent Relapses into Sin p. 127. Chap. XI The Duties of Children p. 138. Chap. XII The Dutier of Servants p. 147. Chap. XIII Advices to all Young persons p. 158. Chap. XIV Directions about them that cannot reade p. 168. Chap. XV. Directions to those that can reade p. 179. Chap. XVI A necessary qualification to receive benefit by all this p. 203. A short Prayer for the Morning p. 213. A short Prayer for the Evening p. 216. A Prayer for one of riper years before the receiving of Baptism p. 221. A Prayer for one that intends to be Confirmed p. 224. A Prayer after Confirmation p. 227. The End