was a part of those sufferings which hee did vndergoe for our sakes Where by the way we may reflect vpon our selues and tell our owne soules that if our Lord did doe all these things for our sakes wee should not thinke much to doe a little for his sake but more especially seeing hee fasted so many dayes and nights for vs wee should not grudge to fast a little now and then for him But how for him For I suppose all men will be ready to say that if they knew they should fast for Christs sake as hee fasted for ours that then they would doe it with a good-will or else it were pitty of their liues To such men if any shall make such demand my answer is Wee may truly be said to fast for Christs sake many wayes As first if we fast that we may with more reuerence and better attention and greater feruour performe holy dueties vnto him In which kinde they fast for Christ who when they come to Church to heare and pray and prayse God and to partake of the blessed Sacrament of Christs body doe forbeare their meate that they may bee more fresh to attend to those holy dueties and because they doe preferre Gods seruice before their owne necessity and doe loue the Word and the Sacrament more than their necessary food Secondly wee may be said to fast for Christ if wee fast that wee may subdue those sinnes that nayled Christ to his Crosse and which if wee commit them doe (a) Heb. 6.6 crucifie againe the Sonne of God and make a mocke of him And in this kinde they fast for Christ who forbeare their meat that they may sorrow for their sinnes and may arme themselues against temptations and bring vnder their body that their flesh doe not wax wanton against Christ Thirdly wee may fast for Christs sake if wee forbeare to feed our selues that wee may haue wherewith to relieue others who beeing the poore members of Christ haue neede of our supply For what is done to any one of those little ones is esteemed as done to Christ himselfe And sure if Christ did fast so long that hee might supply vs it were both sinne and shame not to forbeare a meale if need require that wee may cherish Christ in his members In this manner and by these meanes wee may be said to fast for Christ Let vs make vse of them in our practice and wee shall hereby shew our loue to our Sauiour as hee by fasting forty dayes for vs shewed his great loue vnto vs. II. A second cause why our Lord fasted at this time may be that hee might by this meanes prouoke Sathan to begin his assault The declaration and proofe of this assertion dependeth vpon two things first that his fasting was a fit occasion that might prouoke the Deuill to the on-set secondly that Christ was willing to giue him such an occasion And first that this was a fit occasion appeareth by 2. things 1. Because when men are in distresse then is the Deuils opportunity to tempt them eyther to distrust God because hee leaueth them without reliefe or to vse vnlawfull meanes that they may relieue themselues 2. Because the euent sheweth that Christs hunger caused by his fasting was the occasion that Sathan tooke to assault him For when he saw him fainting for want of bread then hee thought it a fit time to say If thou be the Sonne of God command that this stone bee made bread And what the euent did make manifest afterward that our Lord knew very well before-hand Secondly That our Lord was willing to giue the Deuill such an occasion to prouoke him to the combat may appeare by two things also 1. Because it was Gods will to haue it so as is euident by this that the Spirit of God led him into the wildernesse to be tempted of the Deuill and Christs will was euer agreeable to the will of his Father 2. Because Christ did so thirst after our saluation that hee refused no paynes nor no danger to procure it Hee left heauen that he might become man for vs hee tooke our base nature that hee might beare our infirmities and he went vp to Ierusalem that hee might be crucified and hee came into the world that hee might saue the world by his sufferings And so seeing the temptations of Sathan by which hee assaulted our Sauiour might be profitable for vs and auaileable for our saluation for so Sathan might be ouercome at his owne weapon and wee armed against his assaults afterward wee neede not doubt but as the Spirit led Christ into the wildernesse to be tempted of the Deuill so our Lord himselfe would fast and hunger that the Deuill might assault him And heere againe by the way a Christian may haue a good meditatiō from his Masters practice that seeing Christ was ready to fight against the Deuill for our sakes wee should not feare to stand out against men for his sake But if Religion be a cause that wee are questioned by Enemies or disgraced by worldlings or kept from preferment by great Ones wee must beare oppositions of men for loue to Christ as hee bore these temptations of the Deuill for loue vnto vs. III. A third cause may be that by this exercise of fasting hee might prepare and fit himselfe for the great worke that hee was about For hee was now to enter vpon his Propheticall Office and to begin the publique function of his Ministery And in this and such like cases as this Gods seruants haue vsed to make preparation by fasting and prayers as may bee seene in the example of (a) Act. 13.3 Paul and Barnabas and (b) Act. 14.23 other Presbyters of diuers Churches And therefore seeing our Lord here fasted for a long space and that at such a time as he was to enter vpon the ministery of the Gospell we may well thinke that this is one reason of his fasting that hee might prepare himselfe for this great seruice Onely the doubt may be But what needed our Lord any such preparation For 1. hee was not defectiue in any grace For God (a) Ioh. 3.34 gaue not the spirit to him by measure but he was (b) Ioha 14. full of grace and truth 2. Our Lord was an innocent (c) 1 Pet. 1.19 Lambe without blemish and without spot And what needed hee such preparatiue helps that had all grace and no sinne I answere there be three reasons hereof First that he might stirre vp and inflame and as yee would say actuate the grace which he had already To this purpose it is that when hee was to pray he (d) Mat. 14.23 went into a mountaine or some other priuate place alone ardentioris orationis causâ that he might pray the more feruently say the Learned And so againe when he was to raise vp La Zarus (e) Ioh. 11.33 he groaned and was troubled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he troubled himselfe that is he stirred vp his
lectione nec in Psalmis nec in vigilijs solito quid mimis facias Ieiuniū non perfecta virtus sed caeterarum virtutum fundamentū est c. Hieron ad Demetriad Ep. 8. pag. 72. C You should so fast saith he that you doe not faint and breathe short and haue neede of some body to beare you vp for falling but that subduing the bodily appetite you do not diminish spirituall exercises nor reade or sing or watch or pray lesse then you are wont For Fasting is not a perfect vertue to bee desired for it selfe but an helpe and ground of other vertues The want of this moderatiō Ionathā did rightly reproue in Saul his father who by enioyning too strait abstinence did hinder the people in the pursuit of the enemies (b) 1. Sam. 14.29 My Father hath troubled the Land See I pray you how mine eyes haue bin enlightened because I tasted a little of this honey How much more if the people had eaten freely to day of the spoile of their enemies which they found For had there not bin now a much greater slaughter among the Philistines And so by the same reason if any man doe exceed measure in his religious abstinence we may say of him Hee troubleth his soule and hindreth the worke of Religion and maketh himselfe vnable to doe good duties But this Caueat was necessary in times past now a dayes few men offend that way And therfore I will presse this poynt no further Only out of the former part of this Note where I shewed that fasting is an Afflicting I will draw some short conclusions for our further vse 1. Concl. If a true Fast bee a chastening of the body then Papists haue little cause for their great outcryes and much boasting of their Fasts For as the Pharises said to Christ (c) Mark 2 1◠Luk. 5.33 Why doe the Disciples of Iohn of the Pharises fast often but thine eate and drinke so the Pharises of our time say that they and their disciples fast often but Protestants and their Schollers eate and drinke and feast But all this lowd cry is but an empty sound For say they fast often as they call fasting yet what is it that they call a Fast and which they enioyne their disciples to vse Why it is forsooth that at dinner they eate no flesh and that at supper they make not a set and standing meale But at dinner they may take their fill of the best fish and the strongest wines and the daintiest iunkets and what they will beside of rootes and white-meats or any such like And at night they may haue a drinking and eate something beside more or lesse according to the custome of the place and people And they may drinke at any time of the day and any drinke they list Yea and which is abominable to conceiue if a man drinke intemperately and be drunke on their fasting day yet if hee obserue the former rules a Contra temperantiam peccatū erit contra ieiunium non item Azor. par 1. l. 7. ca. 10. q. 7. hee offendeth not against the Law of their Fast This is the scrictnes and hard discipline that the Church of Rome doth lay vpon her children in their frequent and meritorious Fasts Nor may we thinke that the practice can be much better then their precepts are Sure I reade that (b) Polyc. Lyserus praefat praefixâ Hassenmull de ieiunio Iesuit the Princes of Germanie at the times of their publike meetings in the Empire were wont to obserue the knowne fasting-dayes of the Church and then they would goe dyne with the Bishops For as they vsed to say they neuer had greater variety of good cheere nor more dainties then at such times But some perhaps may say that he that reporteth this was an aduersary to their Church Be it so yet that is no reason to discredit the report of a thing so openly knowne And though Lyserus who reporteth this from the Princes mouthes were an aduersary yet Lindanus was their friend and he saith no lesse of their loose fastings a Ieiunia nostra quae et vini copia natant abundantiaque redundant et piscium varietate carnium superant delitias adeoque cum Deo ludere videntur dum pro intercepto qui ex ouis oritur calore olei flammas vini aestum omnisque aromatū generis ignes helluoni infarciunt stomacho veteribus Christianis omnino fuisse non modo incognita sed et intolerabilia atque adeò abominanda pijs omnibus vetera cogitantibus arbitramur notius quà m vt ea de re vlla sint verba profund ēda Lindan Panop lib. 3. cap. 11 pa. 89. That our Fasts saith he which swimme with store of wine and abound with superfluities and outstrip the delicates of flesh with variety of fish insomuch that they may seem to dallie with God while for cutting off the warmth that is caused by eggs they cramme into their gluttonous stomach the flames of oyle the burning heate of wine and the fire of all kinde of spices were not only vnknowne to the ancient Christians but were intolerable and abominable is a thing more euident to them that consider the ancient customes then that we should waste words about it And in the margin he addeth this note b Ietunium Catholicorū passim Epicurea The Fasts of Catholikes all abroad like the feeding of Epicures And this may serue to shew what sore penance our popish people doe vndergoe by their often fasting But if a true Fast be an afflicting of the body as I haue proued and themselues will not deny then though they haue many Fasts in name yet they haue few or none in deed Let them then looke homeward reforme these mock-fasts of their own Church and then let them complaine of the rare Fasts in ours 2. Concl. They make but a friuolous excuse who to free themselues from fasting alledge that they finde hurt by it meaning that it is some paine to endure two or three houres hunger and some trouble to passe ouer the vsuall time of refection Some paine and some trouble Why that is the very cause why we should fast that by chastening the body wee may cherish the soule Nor is it so great a matter now and then to endure such a paine For we reade that Esau was so long in hunting that he fainted and was ready to dye for hunger (a) Gen. 25.29 30 32. as himselfe complained And we may see it now among men that if it bee for pleasure to follow our sports or for profit to increase our wealth or for preferment to aduance our estates there is no man but would finde himselfe able inough to forbeare a meales meate And if the sauing of our soules bee as deare vnto vs as these worldly vanities we will not repine at so small a labour in so necessary a case 3. Concl. They be poore fasters who glut themselues aforehand that so they
sorrow and moued his bowels vnto compassion and pitty Secondly that he might confirme and radicate and I thinke I may say that he might in some fort increase the graces that he had For the Scriptures say that he tooke vpon him our infirmities (f) Heb. 2.17.18 that he might be a mercifull and faithful High-priest and that (g) Heb. 5.8 he learned obedience by that which hee suffered and that (h) Heb. 12.2 he endured the Crosse and despised the shame for the ioy that was set before him and that in his greatest sorrow Luk. 22.43 an Angel came to strengthen him By which speeches we may gather that his feeling of our wants and his bearing of afflictions and his consideration of future ioyes and the prefence and conference of an Angell did increase or confirme his compassion toward vs and his obedience to his Father and his patience and his courage in his conflicts or else I know not what they meane and whereto they serue And if they intend thus much then by the same reason we may say that his praying and fasting and meditating might serue to increase or confirme or preserue the graces of the spirit which did enable him for his office Thirdly hee vsed this preparation that he might obtaine a blessing vpon his labours that they might become profitable to the Hearers For so we reade that he still vsed to commend businesses to Gods blessing When he fed the people (a) Mat. 14.19 he looked vp to heauen and blessed and brake and gaue them c. that is He prayed for a blessing vpon the meat and so when he consecrated the Sacrament (b) Mat. 26.26 he blessed it And when he was to leaue the world and to send his Disciples to supply his place of preaching (c) Ioh. 17.20 hee prayed not only for the Preachers but for them also that should beleeue through their word And so it is reasonable also to thinke that Christ did now fast and pray for a blessing vpon the word that hee was to preach and vpon the people to whom hee was to preach Thus in diuers good respects our Lord might vse his fasting for a preparation to fit him for his publike office and because we cannot conceiue that our Lord would omit an exercise so good and so proper for his present occasion we may wel suppose that one cause of his fasting was to prepare himselfe for this great seruice of his Ministery IIII. A fourth and last cause why Christ fasted heere may bee that he might giue vs an example by his owne practice For as a wise and carefull Physician will sometime iuste the Physicke which he prescribeth that he may encourage his patient to take it so our Lord vpon occasion did many things for our example So the Apostle saith Christ (a) 1. Pet. 2.21 suffered for vs leauing vs an example that we should follow his steps And when our Lord had washed his Disciples feete himselfe telleth them his reason (b) Ioh. 13.15 I haue giuen you an example saith he that ye should doe as I haue done vnto you And so seeing he vsed fasting heere before the entrance of his publike seruice and calling he might doe it for this reason among others that he might leaue vs an example vpon the like occasion to vse the like practice And from hence we haue two conclusions that may further commend the holy vse of a religious Fast 1. That an holy Fast is a good exercise to begin our Callings all important businesses withall For not onely Moses when he was to receiue the Law and Elias when he was to restore the Law but Iesus Christ himselfe when he was to perfect the Law did fast and pray before they vndertooke the worke and so if any of vs be to enter vpon a calling or to vndergoe some great seruice if for example we be called to bee Magistrates or are to enter vpon the state of marriage or to begin a trade or profession in the world or to vndertake any waighty matter it is a good rule and we haue good authority for it to consecrate our entrance by an holy Fast And sure I am perswaded it is one great cause that we haue oftentimes so little comfort in the execution of our places because we vse so little Religion in our entrance into them But if wee would follow Christs steps we might hope for his blessing to direct vs. 2. That an holy Fast hath a proper vse in the consecrating and ordayning of Ministers for the seruice of the Church Our Lord vsed it heere when he was consecrated and appointed for his Ministery and the Apostolicall Church by his example vsed it when Paul and Barnabas and other Elders were to be sent abroad for preaching of the Gospell and the Christian Church afterward by example of Christ and his Apostles haue appointed the foure solemn times of fasting to be the set and solemn times for giuing of Orders and for sending of Ministers into the Church And their warrant is Christs example and the practice of the Apostles and the Apostolicall Church The common neglect of which times and this holy exercise to be vsed at those times and for this purpose may bee one reason why the Church is not better prouided of Teachers and the people are not more profited by their labours For redresse whereof it were to be wished that publike Authority would appoint some publike meetings at those times that by fasting and prayer we might commend that great worke to Gods blessing with one consent of heart But because it is not in the power of priuate men to make publike orders euery Christian shall doe well in his deuotions at home by fasting and Prayer to begge a blessing on that sacred worke that God would direct the Fathers of our Church to admit fit men to that sacred function and would enable the then ordained Ministers to profit the Church by their labours and would sanctifie all to make vse of his Word and the publike Ministery while we haue it and doe enioy it CHAP. VII Why Christ fasted forty dayes and forty nights IN relating of our Sauiours Fast the Euangelist setteth downe the continuance of the time He fasted fortie dayes and fortie nights saith hee In which words wee haue two things to consider of 1. Why the Euangelist mentioneth nights as well as dayes 2. Why our Lord made choyce of this number of dayes to determine his Fast by I. And for the former question Why the Euangelist mentioneth nights as well as dayes the answere is he did it lest any man should thinke that though he fasted by day yet he did eate at night For it is true indeed that the name of dayes doth many times include the nights also especially if the condition of the things spoken of be such as what is said of thē for the day time is left to be vnderstood of the night time too As when it is
beene vsed to gresse this duety with much earnestnesse in their Sermons to the people a Cui dabis quod tibi abstulisti Ita ieiuna vt alio manducante prandisse te gaudeas August in Psalm 42. in fine To whom wilt thou giue that which by fasting thou hast spaâ— d from thy selfe saith Saint Augustine So fast that by anothers eating thou mayest be glad that thou hast dyned And againe b Ieiunia nostra vt plena sint suffarta misericordiae pinguedine sageâ—â—ntur demus surientibus prandium nostrum De Temp. Serm. 65. pag. 232. C. That our Fasts may be full let them be fatted with Almes-deedes Let vs giue our dinner to them that be hungry And againe c Praecipuè sanè pauperum mementote vt quod vobis parcius viuendo suberahitis in coelosti Thesauro reponatis Accipiat esuriens Christus quod leiunans minùs accipit Christianus Castigatio volentis fiat sustentatio non habentis c. Augustin de diuers Serm. 74. cap. 10. Pag. 500. A. Especially saith he be mindfull of the poore that what you subtract from your selues yee may lay it vp in the Treasury of Heauen Let hungring Christ receiue that which the fasting Christian doth abate c. And so Leo d Jeiunijs nostris egentium refectio suffragetur Leo Serm. 10. de Quadrages Let the feeding of the poore giue testimony to our fasting And e Quod suis quisque delicijs subtrahit debilibus impendat egenis Leo de Quadrages Serm. 11. That which a man doth with-draw from his dainty fare let him bestow vpon the impotent and needy And to like purpose speake others also Dist 3. Religious fasts are of two sorts they are eyther publique or priuate fasts Publique I call those when a whole company as when a Citie Towne or Parish doe by publique order ioyne together in this seruice Such a fast was that of the Nineuites in the third Chapter of Ionas and that which was prescribed to the Iewes in the fourth of Ester Secondly the priuate fast is when men out of their owne deuotions and by their owne direction doe in their priuate houses vse abstinence in a religious manner Such a fast was that of Daniel mentioned in his tenth Chapter and that of Nehemiah in the first Chapter of his Booke And both these kindes both the priuat and publique fasts haue their approbation in Scriptures and are commendable if they be vsed aright as appeareth by the examples alledged already and will more fully appeare afterwards in the processe of this discourse Dist 4. Religious fasts whether priuate or publique may againe be diuided into two sorts For some are extraordinary and others are ordinary The extraordinary are such as are kept vpon some speciall and extraordinary occasion as eyther for remouing of some speciall iudgement then eyther felt or feared or for obtayning of some benefit or blessing whereof then there is especiall need and exigence Such was the fast of the Nineuites which they vndertooke vpon the feare of destruction threatned by the Prophet And such was the fast of Dauid which he vndertooke vpon occasion of his Childes sicknesse and danger of death in him The ordinary fasts are such as are kept for an vsuall exercise of the soule without any other cause than such as may befall euery one of vs at all times Now for the former of these kindes of fasting it is generally agreed that they are both lawfull and vsefull but concerning the later that is the ordinary there hath a question beene made by some later Diuines who dispute determine against the vse of them But as I take it the case is cleare enough to the contrary And my reasons are first because this kinde of fast hath approbation in the Scriptures and secondly because it hath the profitable vses for our soules for which religious fasts were ordayned First Reason first from Scriptures because it hath approbation from Scriptures For I reade that God himselfe commanded an ordinary fast to be obserued by the Iewes euery yeere Leuit. 16.29 This saith hee shall be a Statute for euer vnto you that in the seuenth moneth in the tenth day of the moneth yee shall afflict your soules c. Where that the afflicting spoken of was partly by inward sorrow for their sinnes and partly by outward abstinence from meat and other contentments of nature is agreed vpon by all sides And that this abstinence and humiliation was an ordinary exercise of pietie cannot bee doubted if we consider that it was appoynted euery yeere and in the same moneth and vpon the same day For it is not to bee imagined that extraordinary occasions of humiliation should happen euery yeere vnto the same people and at the same time and vpon the same day And if Almightie God himselfe saw it to be so vsefull for the Iewes to humble themselues by an ordinary fast for their ordinary sins and in the ordinary course of their liues why should it be thought sinfull in Christians to humble themselues in the same manner and vpon the same occasion Secondly we finde in Scriptures that the (a) Matt. 9.14 Pharises fasted often and for example sake that they (b) Luk. 18.12 fasted twice in the weeke and that concerning those fasts of theirs our Lord gaue his Disciples this warning (c) Matt. 6.16 When yee fast bee not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance for they disfigure their faces that they may appeare vnto men to fast Verily I say vnto you they haue their reward Out of which passages wee may gather two things First that these fasts of the Pharises were ordinary fasts and obserued by them in their ordinary course of life and for an ordinary exercise of religion For that these men should so often haue extraordinary occasions especially that euery weeke twice is a thing that cannot be conceiued with any probability or reason Secondly that these fasts such as they were were not vnlawfull in themselues That I proue first because our Sauiour where hee purposely taxeth their vices reproueth them for their purpose not for their practice of fasting or not because they did fast but because they did fast to gaine prayse of men for it Now had they offended in both out of doubt our Lord would haue reproued them for both and haue fore-warned his Disciples to beware of both Secondly because in saying of the Pharises that they fasting for vaine glory had their reward hee meant that they might not expect any reward from God seeing they did it for the applause of men and hee implyeth by necessary consequence that if they had not marred this good worke with so ill an end they might haue had a reward from God for it And if God reward ordinary fasts what man will dare to condemne them Luke 2.37 Thirdly wee reade againe of Anna the Prophetesse that shee departed not from the Temple but serued God with fastings and
and vaine-glory And so we may fast by outward abstinēce and receiue no good but hurt by it And therefore for preuenting of this euill we must doe in our humiliations as God requireth vs to doe when hee correcteth vs that is (c) 1 King 8.47 bethink our selues (d) Ezek. 18.28 Hagg. 1.5 7. consider our waies (e) Isa 42.25 57.1 lay them to heart And for this purpose that our fasting may profit vs in its season it will be requisite vpon our fasting-dayes to set apart some time for holy thoughts and good meditations and other exercises suteable to a time of humiliation and repentance And if more may not be spared by reason of other occasions yet so much time I presume euery man may allot to this worke as he spareth from his dinner and the refreshing of his body And the more any man is scanted of time to be wholly imployed on this worke the more he should striue to fasten his hart on these holy thoughts euen while he is about his worldly occasions And if men doe seriously and vnfeignedly bend their minds this way I nothing doubt but they will finde so much liberty for this worke as may make their fasting to bring good affections vnto their soules These be the conditions which as I conceiue are requisit in an holy East make vse of them and doubt not of the successe CHAP. V. In what cases and for what purposes Fasting serueth to obtaine helpe and fauour from God FAsting rightly vsed and with the conditions already mentioned is very auaileable and of great vse in the life of a Christian For beside the spirituall helps that wee may haue from it for furthering our deuotion whereof I spake before it is also a powerfull meanes to obtaine helpe and mercie from God in diuers necessary cases or rather vpon euery occasion wherein we doe stand in need of Gods speciall fauour and assistance For I. First and in generall it is auaileable to obtaine Gods fauour and goodwill toward vs and consequently to incline and moue him to helpe and protect vs and to prouide for vs all good things and to grant vs all our iust and lawfull desires And this it doth for diuers causes or in diuers respects 1. Because Fasting is an exercise of humiliation and subiection whereby we doe submit and cast our selues downe before Gods feete as vnworthy in respect of our many sinnes to vse any the least of his creatures And humiliation is a ready way to obtaine fauour By it (a) 1 King 20 31 c. Benhadad won the heart of the King of Israel not onely to spare his life but to intreate him with all kindnesse though he had found much hard measure from him immediately before And by it sinfull men who haue offended God by their sinnes may finde ready fauour at Gods hands For (a) Iam. 4.6 he resisteth the proud and giueth grace to the humble And if men (b) 1 Pet. 5.6 humble themselues vnder the mighty hand of God he will exalt them in due time And (c) Isa 66.2 All these things hath mine hand made saith the Lord but to this man will I looke euen to him that is poore and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my words Which is as if he should say The heauens and the earth and the seas and all things within them all of them bee mine for I made them and I preserue them and I may command them and make vse of them at my pleasure but among them all my delight is and I make choyce to dwell and reside with him that humbleth himselfe before me It followeth And if humiliation be so welcome to God fasting must needs obtaine his fauour when it is rightly vsed 2. Because Fasting is an exercise of Repentance and a meanes to worke reformation and amendment of life And Repentance and amendment is the ready way to obtaine mercie and fauour For (d) Ioh. 9.31 We know saith the blinde man now restored to his sight that God heareth not sinners but if any man be a worshipper of God and doth his will him he heareth In which sentence there are two things considerable 1. The sentence it selfe God heareth not sinners that is God doth not respect the prayer of sinners which persist in any sinne without repenting and reforming themselues nor is it reason that he should care to fulfill their desires who haue no care to fulfill his Lawes But if any man be a worshipper of God and doth his will c. That is if any man endeuour to serue God by forsaking sinne and performing good duties GOD heareth that mans prayer and will not deny him any request that may be for his good Secondly we may consider in this saying the certainty and vndoubted truth of it We know saith he he saith not we thinke or we hope or we are perswaded of it but we know it as a thing that is cleere and out of question Againe Wee know he doth not say I know or you know or the learned Doctors know but Wee I and you and all doe agree in this principle That God reiecteth the prayers of sinners but (a) Psal 34.13 his eares are open to the cry of the righteous and (b) Ps 145.19 he will fulfill the desire of them that feare him he also will heare their cry and will saue them And if amendment of life and practice of righteousnes be so powerfull with God then fasting rightly vsed cannot want his effect 3. Because fasting rightly vsed is a meanes to eleuate the minde and to enflame a zeale and deuotion and to set an edge on our prayers as was formerly declared But (c) Iam. 5.10 the effectuall feruent prayer of a righteous man auaileth much saith the Apostle And consequently fasting is a good meanes to impetrate grace and fauour In these and such like respects fasting may steed vs with God to incline him to our prayers And therefore God himself reprouing the ill-gouern'd Fasts of the Iewes (a) Isa 58.4 Ye shall not saith he fast as yee doe this day to make your voyce to bee heard on high Where he signifieth that their ill handling of their Fasts was the cause that their prayers were not heard and implyeth withall that a right and well-ordered Fast would haue pierced the clouds and obtained audience in heauen II. Secondly and more particularly it may serue vs to obtaine fauour and mercy in these and such like speciall cases 1. If a man stand guiltie of sinne and lyable to Gods anger fasting may serue to appease Gods anger and to obtaine pardon of the sinne This end Ezrah had of his fasting For when the people had sinned in taking strange wiues first he confessed the sinne (b) Ezra 9.15 10.1 Behold O Lord God of Israel we are before thee in our trespasses for wee cannot stand before thee because of this And secondly hee betooke himselfe to abstinence and fasting
of God were wont to doe For vpon ordinary occasions they vsed to fast one day from morning till night but vpon extraordinary for a longer space Thus Ester when a weighty businesse was in hand that concerned her life and the liues of her people she appoynted a Fast for three dayes and three nights And the men of Iabesh Gilead when they had a great cause of heauinesse by the death of Saul and the ouerthrow of the Army they fasted for seuen dayes space And Daniel when the Church was distressed and in great calamity hee fasted for three weekes together And so wee should extend our fast and keepe it with more strict obseruation and set more time apart for holy exercises when either we are about some weighty businesse or be in some great danger or haue fallen into some hainous sinne or haue a speciall cause to remember celebrate the pangs and passion of our Sauiour or happen vpon some other occasion of more than ordinary sorrow Thus what-euer our occasions be fasting is still of vse in the life of a Christian if the occasion be ordinary ordinary fasting is a fitting exercise eyther to auert euill or procure good and if the occasion be extraordinary then as the other exercises of Religion so this among the rest is to be vsed in a more than ordinary measure CHAP. VIII When a Christian may or should fast COncerning the Fast of our Sauiour it is recorded that hee then fasted when hee was to encounter with Satan and goe about his publique Ministery and to begin the great worke of our Redemption and vpon such vrgent occasions and when there is such extraordinary cause offered all men grant that then wee also may and ought to fast for the speedier procuring of Gods fauour But this example of Christ ministreth iust occasion to enquire further whether beside times of such vnusuall accidents a Christian also may not lawfully and profitably obserue set times of fasting And this is a question doubted of by some in our Church and disputed with arguments and reasons on both sides For clearing which doubt wee are first of all to declare the meaning of the question and that may appeare by these two notes 1. That some there be which commend fasting for a religious exercise if it bee vsed onely then when men shall vpon seuerall occasions see it to be conuenient but any standing dayes whether appoynted by publique authoritie or vndertaken by a mans owne priuate deuotion these they vtterly condemne as superstitious and Monkish For example When Ionas prophecied of iudgement against Nineueh (a) Ion. 3.6 7. the King proclaymed a fast and the people obserued it And this they approue of and allow our Magistrates vpon such an occasion to doe the like Againe when (b) Nehem. 1.3 4. Nehemiah heard that the Iewes were in great affliction and reproch and that the wall of Ierusalem was broken downe and the gates thereof burnt with fire he sate downe and wept and mourned certaine daies and fasted And this they approue of and allow euery priuate Christian by his example vpon such occasions as these to fast out of his owne deuotion But now further the ancient Christian Church in remembrance of Christs death on that day did appoynt euery Fryday to bee kept fasting-day and for the same and some other reasons they appoynted the time of Lent as often as it should happen to be obserued with abstinence and fasting And these and such like standing and set-times they allow not Secondly Wee must note that the obseruing and appoynting of these dayes may be meant and vnderstood two wayes eyther with opinion of necessitie or sanctitie in those times more than in other And this is not here questioned nor doe wee doubt but the Church as it appoynted the Fryday so if it had pleased might haue appointed any other day for this exercise nor do we thinke that there is any peculiar sanctitie in that day more than in others Or else the question may bee vnderstood of the lawfulnesse and conueniency of appoynting such set dayes and times for order sake and for the more constant performance of this worke And this is it which we meane in this question The question then is Whether it be lawfull for Authority to prescribe or for priuate men to vndertake set and standing dayes for fasting that it may be obserued the more ordetly and the more constantly And mine answere is That it is both lawfull and expedient for Gouernours to enioyne their Inferiours and for priuate men to prescribe vnto themselues such standing times so often as they shall fall either weekely or monethly or yeerely as they see it expedient And my proofes are some from Scriptures some from examples and some from reason grounded on Scripture I. From Scriptures And thence I alledge two places for this purpose 1. The first is Leuit. 16. For there God appointeth the tenth day of the seuenth moneth to bee kept for a fasting day and saith moreouer (a) Leu. 16.29 34 This shall be a statute for euer vnto you and againe This shall be an euerlasting statute vnto you to make atonement once a yeere Heere we see that God appointed vnto the Iewes a set fasting day to bee kept euery yeere as oft as it should happen And hence I argue thus Almighty God himself did appoint and thought it a profitable course for his people of the Iewes to obserue a set and standing day for a Fast euery yeere And therefore a set time of fasting may bee obserued without superstition and sinne Some answere that this was a Legall precept of Moses which is now abolished by Christ And I reply It is true that this precept in respect of that particular time was Legall and had its end in Christs death but it is no lesse true also that God in making and appointing that Legall precept did not command them any thing which in it selfe is superstitious and sinfull And therefore because God prescribed them a set time for that Fast it followeth that the appointing of a set time of fasting is not in it selfe superstitious and sinfull 2. The second place that may serue for proofe of this point is out of the Prophesie of Zacharie (a) Zach. 8.19 where we finde mention of foure seuerall fasting dayes obserued euery yeere by the Iewes in their knowne and appointed moneths Concerning which Fast thus much is first of al to be noted that they were (b) Hieron in Zach. 8.18 19. pag. 486. Buxd. Synag Iudaic. c. 25. Genebrar Calend. Hebr. Sept. 3. Dec. 10. Iun. 17 Iulij 9. occasioned by the calamities that befel the Iewes about the time when they were carried captiues into Babylon or before that time and were appointed as some thinke by some Prophet from heauen or as others by the authority or consent of the present Church and as the Learned generally doe confesse were allowed of and approued by almighty God himselfe And hence