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A46785 The bell rung to prayers an earnest persuasive to the daily worship of God in every family : calling upon all houses to be houses of prayer / by Ben. Jenks ... Jenks, Benjamin, 1646-1724. 1699 (1699) Wing J618; ESTC R31543 81,671 140

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less still in himself how much soever he bestows upon you O where can you ever be Better than with him Where so Well When to be in his Presence is to be where is Fulness of Joy But separated from him and out of this way of your Duty O what shall you find but Vanity and Vexation Fatigue and Disappointment Now and then it may be the Fair Face of Satisfaction but still at the botrom the bitter Root of Sorrow You may be cheated with Expectation of Joy in a hundred Adventures and Expedients while you are drawing one another from God But in drawing nigh to him you draw up to the Fountain-Head of Joy compleat and Pleasure everlasting As long as you live in the wilful Neglect of these Holy Duties you are quite out of your Places and may despair there ever to find Rest to your Souls For Conscience if alive at all will never let you be easy but Taunt and Harass you and give you many a Twitch and Pang to spoil the Sport of your sinful Pleasures and make your Hearts sad even in the midst of the Laughter So that I shall never grudge unto loose Families all the Joy of their wild Liberties nor count them in better case than those whose Confinement to the Pious Offices seems to Debar them of all the Sweets of a Merry Life For I know that the Liberty of the one is only a Latitude to Mischief and undo themselves And the Confinement of the other is only a Walling them up in a fair Walk of Decency and Duty so to Conduct them to the Blessed End in all Felicity and Glory O cursed Freedom to Rove up and down the Broad Way after such a Leader as has no Design in all the large Allowance by the way but to throw them upon an intolerable Damnation at the End And O happy Confinement under an Easy Yoke and Precious Burthen In waiting upon the Best of Masters that sets you not on work to serve any Ends upon you but only Imploys you that he may Glorify you and keeps you under his Discipline to Train you up for his Kingdom His Service gives you Hearts-Ease on the Way and Heaven at the End It creates a Blessed Peace within you and sets Eternal Glory before you So full of Heavenly Satisfaction and Pleasure is the Life that is led with God in this holy Way And the Religious House which looks in the Carnal Eye so Melancholy and even as a Gool The Praying Family upon which Profane Creatures look so Insulting and Scornfully Such is the Sweet Retreat the Happy Sanctuary where Princes and Nobles have out-run the Glories of a Throne and Stole away from the Pleasures of a Court to Hide and Solace themselves After they have come to Learn a Wisdom better than the World can Teach and to Taft that Pleasure Within dropt down from Above which makes them Pity the mean Souls that are Smelling and Hunting for Pleasure only along the Ground I know some Masters and Families are for Forcing a Pleasure quite another way than what I am describing And think to Ens●●e it and to take their Fill of it in Drinking and Ranting Singing and Gaming Jesting and Fooling Feasting and Jolly doing They will have it Not only without God's Leave But as it were in Spight of his Word quite against all that he has said And then the Bible must lie Close in a Corner of the House Lest if Opened it fly in their Faces and Shame and Ruin the whole Scene of their Gayety And Prayers indeed have no Agreement with such Tempers No They Despise the poor Sneaks and Melancholly Fools that must needs be under God's Rules and taken up so much in his Presence They have no Joy but in Forgetting him and upon the Ramble from him And therefore they seem so Comfortable only because they are so Unconscionable To Rob God of his Rights and Regale themselves with their Stolen Meats Their Pleasantness is the rotten Fruit of their Forgetfulness And all their Gladness of Heart arises from the Hardness of their Hearts And O how Mad is that Mirth which is had with God's Wrath How can you Laugh when He Frowns And while the Meat is in your Mouths the Wrath of God is ready to Light on your Heads Unless you could Die as well as Live like Brutes The Dying and After-Reckoning that will still Damp and Mortify all the Rejoycing Small cause then to be so Jocund upon Earth when you are got in such a Case as to be even Ripe and Ready for Hell And all the Frolicking and Wantonness and Pleasure of this kind of Life seems but an ugly Preface to the Weeping and Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth O Sirs This is not the Way 'T is all but Froth and nothing of Substance It will never do to give you Peace within any more than to bring you Peace at the last To make you Easy at the Bottom and heartily Joyful No you shall never know true Comfort in your Life Till you turn o're a new Leaf Till you Live to another End and walk more Humbly with your God Till you are upon better Terms with Him and keep a fairer Correspondence above and accustom yourselves to the Exercises that look Hopeful to fit you up for your highest Advancement When your Families look like so many little Colonies and Nurseries meet to be Transplanted into the Paradise of God Then you may Rejoyce indeed that your Names are Written in Heaven And when your Vallies are covered over with such blessed Fruits they may Shout for Joy and also Sing So sweet is it to Live with God in this way of Duty That will make you to look with Comfort even upon Death and Desire to be Disselved and to be with Christ And then you may ●fford to go Rejoycing all the Days of your Life and fear nothing to Destroy the Comforts that grow upon such a Root Thus much I have to say for the Family-Prayer And now let us hear what any has to say against it 'T is wonder if it be not contradicted Wonder if the great Ruler of the Darkness of this World has no Advocates in it to Plead his Cause which by this means seems in danger to be so much Damnified Some Objections I have Heard And some I do suspect that I not expect to Hear For there are Colourable Excuses for the neglect that use to be alledged And there are Real Causes of it that lie Concealed As not thought fit to be mentioned I shall take Notice of both And of the former sort are The want of a Command The want of Time The want of Ability The want of Company for it And the want of Success in it 1. Some except against this Family-Prayer for want of a Command They complain That it is the making of Duties without any Commands And cry out of the Imposing and Priest-Riding To bring a Free People under Slavery and Tye them up where God has
The Bell Rung to Prayers An Earnest PERSUASIVE TO THE Daily Worship of GOD IN Every FAMILY Calling upon all Houses to be Houses of PRAYER By BEN. JENKS Rector of Harley and Chaplain to the Right Honourable the Earl of Bradford Pour out thy Fury upon the Families that Call not on thy Name Jer. 10.25 LONDON Printed for Will. Rogers at the Sun against St. Dunstan's Church And Benj. Tooke at the Middle-Temple-Gate in Fleetstreet 1699. TO THE READER I Thought I had done with the Press and was concluding that I should Trouble it no more But I find yet another Cause to Plead further than my Voice can be Heard And in the Defence of that Cause I send this Sound into the World and would have these Papers to Speak as well as they can even when I am Dead Besides the too Common Neglect of God's Worship in so many Families Observed and Bewailed by all whose Eyes he has Opened which might give sufficient Occasion for the present Exhortation A very Pious Lady for whose Excellent Person and Exemplary Family I have a just Esteem and high Regard was pleas'd to desire this of me That in the next Edition of my Prayer Book I would add more than I had there said in the Preface to put all Families upon their Prayers That I might not only shew such as needed the Help How they should do it But also if possible be Instrumental so to Prevail with them that they might not still leave it Vndone And some late Observations that I have made give me cause to Enlarge the Complaint in that Preface of the Dulness and Indifferency of Sinful Men to that which is best for them and which most highly Concerns them That they are not apt to be Solicitous so as they use to shew themselves in their Worldly Concerns to Seek after the Provisions and Conveniencies for the Spiritual Life unless these fall directly in their way and are set just before them For I find that some will not vouchsafe but so much as to Vse them even when they have them Ready by them Now though the Impression of that Imperfect Piece is gone off yet I am not Determined by those Solicitations which would put me upon Another Because my End being already gain'd in seeing it Communicated and all Hands filled as far as I thought my self Obliged I have no Motive now to be further concerned Unless it were to make such Corrections and to fill up such Defects as might give my self if not others some better Satisfaction in that Performance But what I have here to offer would be too Large to be Inserted in a Preface And the Time also might be too Long to wait for that Opportunity Therefore this Service to Souls I now give out by itself And though I know it might be much better done by many others if they would think fit so to Concern themselves yet in the mean time accept it in such manner as can at present be done by one that is full of Care and Desire to Promote it as far as lies in the Power of Thy B. J. THE CONTENTS A Preparation to the Design Capitulating with Masters of Houses about the Pious Regulation of their Families Page 1 The Recommendation and Pressing of Family-Prayer By Arguments and Motives Page 9 1. From the Obligation to it as a Needful Duty Page 10 2. From the Encouragment to it as making 1. For the Safety Page 18 2. For the Profit Page 19 3. For the Credit Page 23 4. For the Comfort of the Family Page 27 Answers to the Objections made against this Family-Worship to Excuse the Neglect of it as 1. For want of Command Page 33 2. For want of Time Page 36 3. For want of Ability Page 42 4. For want of Company for it 1. The Generality Abroad to Appear in Favour of it Page 46 2. Fit Partners at Home to Joyn and Assist in it Page 50 5. Want of Success this way Page 52 A Discovery of the Real Causes of its Neglect As 1. Ignorance Page 53 2. Pride Page 57 3. Sloth Page 59 4. Worldliness Page 62 5. Enmity against God Page 67 6. The Love of Sin Page 70 A Proposal made to Determine and Fix upon some Set and Stated Time for Family-Prayer Page 75 Some Considerations offered to Promote and Secure 1. The Morning-Prayer Page 77 2. The Evening-Sacrifice Page 81 A Serious Invitation to Frequency in this Prayer Considering Page 84 1. That now is the only Time for it Page 86 2. That the Oftner we thus come to God we shall be the Welcomer Page 88 3. That our Prayers the more Frequent are the more Excellent Page 89 Directions for the Management of these Prayers 1. A particular Advice to Masters to afford their Presence and Countenance and good Example herein Page 90 General Advice to them and All 2. To look narrowly to their Aims and Ends in the Worship Page 92 3. To Remember what a Presence they are in Page 93 4. To Read somewhat out of Holy Scripture before Prayer Page 95 5. To shew a profound Reverence in the Worship Ibid. 6. To Endeavour to make it Easy and Pleasant Page 99 1. By going to the Lord as Our God Page 99 2. By Offering up all in the Name of Jesus Page 103 3. By joyning our Praises to our Prayers Page 106 7. To do all with Zeal and Fervency of Spirit Page 110 8. To take Care of Family-Reformation as well as Family-Supplication Page 114 The Conclusion containing a Renewed Persuasion to the Work Page 117 A PERSUASIVE TO Family-Prayer OR AN Earnest Exhortation to the Daily Worship of God in Every Family MY present Undertaking may seem very Facile and ordinary But I expect to find it exceeding Weighty and attended with no small Difficulty How I shall Acquit my self and come off in the Accomplishment I dare not be Confident to Presage But that I could have no Rest in my Spirit till I had Engag'd in it I am best able to make Report 'T is no New Project that I am upon For Abundance of God's Labourers are afore-hand with me and have here bestowed their Pains over and over The thing has been often done And yet Alas it still needs to be done And whether or no I shall say any thing but what has been said God grant I may say something that shall take Effect I can but use my weak Endeavours and Wait and Beg for the Blessing from Him that has the Power to Persuade throughly where even St. Paul the Chief Speaker can do it but Almost Christians I address my self to you all That as you are called the Lords So you may Call upon the Lord and Approve your selves his true People in being a Praying People and make it appear you are the Children of God by crying Abba Father Yea may not only give yourselves to Prayer and the humble Signification of your Desires to God still for the obtaining of all that you would have