nothing but what comes from the ground of the Heart is accepted by him and that only the Fervent Prayer is effectual and prevails with him how great need you have of those things you ask and that for ought you know this may be the last time you may have an opportunity of putting up any Petition unto him Then draw near unto God in Faith and in Humility in a sense of his great Majesty and thy own Wretchedness and Misery In the entrance to thy Prayer earnestly desire the Assistance of Gods Holy Spirit and have a care to keep out all vain and wandring thoughts In the close of thy Prayer remember to give God thanks for that gracious opportunity vouchsafed thee for that strength of Body and Assistance of his Holy Spirit which he hath been pleased to afford thee in the performance of thy Duty and desire him for the continuation of the same Mercies to pardon the Frailties and Imperfections of thy Holy Duties and to do more abundantly for thee than thou art able to ask or think c. This being done prepare thy self for thy Bed unless thou art Major Domo Master of a Family and then call thy Family together read unto them or cause them to read a Chapter or two and afterwards Pray with them and be not unmindful to adapt thy Prayers as near as thou canst to their as well as thy own particular wants and necessities which by having an eye over them thou mayst without any great difficulty observe and know As thou art putting off thy Cloaths Meditate that it will not be long before thou put off thy Body also Beg of God therefore by Ejaculation that when this Earthly Tabernacle of thy Body shall be dissolv'd thou mayst have a building with God not made with hands but Eternal in the Heavens and that when thy Body shall lie down in its Bed of Darkness thy Soul may pass into the Regions of Light and dwell with God for ever more through Jesus Christ Amen After thou art in Bed use these or the like short Prayers or Ejaculations I will remember thee in my Bed I will think upon thee in the Night Season At Midnight will I give thanks to â—hee because of thy Righteous Judgments O Lord deliver me from the place works and spirits of Darkness O Let â—e not walk in the Night of Sin lest I â—umble and fall In the midst of Darkâ—ess and the shadow of Death O Lord â—e thou my Light Give thy Holy Angels charge over â—e to keep me in all thy ways and be â—hou O blessed Saviour unto me both 〈◊〉 life and death advantage I will lay me down in Peace and â—ake my rest for thou Lord only makest â—e dwell in fafety Consider and bear me O Lord my â—od Lighten mine Eyes that I sleep â—ot in Death Into thy hands I commend my Spirit â—oul and Body for thou hast redeemed â—â—em O Lord thou God of Truth Glory be to the Father and to the â—on and to the Holy Ghost As it was 〈◊〉 the beginning is now and ever sha◠〈◊〉 c. If any time remains before sleep seizeth on thee you cannot do better than to spend it in Meditation of some portion of that Scripture which you before read If you awake in the Night fill up the Chasms and Intervals with short Prayers Ejaculations or Meditations upon the four last things Death Judgment Heaven and Hell So shalt thou sleep and awake with God Prov. 3.24 yea thy sleep shall be sweet and no dangers of the Night or Spirits of Darkness shall terrifie thee So shalt thou be in a continual epectation of the coming of thy dearest Lord that if he call for thee at Morning or at Evening at Midnight or at Mid-day at the third or fourth Watch thou wilt be found prepared for his coming thou wilt lay thy head down in the dusâ— with joy rest in hope and at length rise to a glorious Immortality which will make an ample Compensation for these thy pains and services Of a Private Fast and Directions for it FAsting in its Definition I take to be nothing else but an abstaining from our lawful Food upon a Religious account which although it be no where in Scripture injoyn'd simply for its own sake yet if we consider the many advantages of it in order to the benefit of our Souls we shall not think the Commands of the Church and the Practice of the Primitive Christians too severe and inimitable The Jews fasted twice every Week sc Tuesdays and Thursdays concerning which is the boast of the Pharisee Luke 18.12 and the Christians have not come behind them and the Sabbath being for good Reasons altered they have observed Wednesdays and Fridays for a Religious Fast which days are taken notice of by Tertullian and called Dies Stationarii But alas we that now live in this profligate and degenerate Age are so far from following the steps of pious Antiquity or the Commands of our Holy Mother the Church that if we set apart a Day for this purpose once in a quarter shall I say before the Sacrament or a year rather we think we have sufficiently deny'd our selves and discharg'd our Duty But certainly did we seriously consider and put a due estimate upon the great Emoluments and Advantages of this Holy exercise we should not be so remiss and negligent in it which I shall in the next place give you a taste of 1. And first of all Fasting is very instrumental to all Acts of Devotion for seeing there is so near an affinity between the Soul and the Body the former using the Organs of the latter for its Operations and for the most part follows the Temperament of it it cannot be when the Body is stuff'd even to Satiety and clog'd with a Load of indigested Humours that the Soul should be so active and vigorous as at other times and mount with those Wings of Devotion with that Zeal and Affection towards Heaven as when it is freed from that Burthen which still presses it down to the Earth And if there were no other reason to be given for it every good Christian's own Experience will sufficiently evince the Truth of the Assertion 2. Fasting is very instrumental in order to our humilation for Sins past and subduing of Lusts for the future Such is the misery of Mankind That whilst we are driven by an indispensable necessity to Eating and Drinking that we may support our frail Beings we also by the same Act cherish and foment our Vices Our Flesh is apt to be too rebellious and we find a Law in our Members constantly warring against the Law of our Minds and leading us Captive at will Now fasting is the Soul's Physick and there is no better way to tame this Monstrous Panther than by substracting that Pabulum which nourishes and feeds it This course Holy David took he wept and chastened himself with Fasting and many of God's Children imitate his Example
the good Creatures of God with an hearty desire of his Blessing Moderation and Thankfulness remembring that every Creature of God is good and not to be refused if it be received with Thanksgiving and that it is sanctified by the Word of God and by Prayer At any other time besides at Set Meals venture not to eat or drink without craving a Blessing and returning Praise at least by Ejaculation After a little Diversion return to thy Closet read a Psalm or two meditate and follow David's Example by offering up a Meridian Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving in the following or like Method Then betake thy self again â—o thy Employments or Studies and be â—iligent in them At Four in the Afternoon if thy occasions permit as there are but very few who can not spare so much time if the â—eart be inclin'd for thou maist do this â—n the midst of thy business and make â—hy Closet in the very Street use some â—f the following Ejaculations either as â—hy Devotion or particular necessities â—rompt thee to If there be again any Publick Prayers if thou be not a Man of Employment and Business omit them not Use the same Meditations again at Supper as before at Dinner and after Supper if the time of the Year or Season permits walk into the Fields and there contemplate and admire the wonderful Works of God the strange Effects of his Wisdom exhibited to us in the variety of Plants their decorous Order exact Symmetry of Parts and the like Praesentem narrat quaelibet herba Deum Let thy Soul say O how marvellous are thy Works O Lord in Wisdom hast thou made them all The Earth is full of thy Riches Who can express the noble Acts of the Lord Or shew forth all his praise c And if you use any Recreation have an especial care first that it be not unlawful or with evil Company next that it be not immoderate and take up too much time but that it may be such as may either tend to the health of thy Body or refreshment of thy Mind that so thou may'st be the better disposed either for the Service of God thy Neighbour or thy Self And because we are too apt to be led by Sense and to forget God in our Mirth thou may'st often lift up thy Soul to God to set a Watch before thy Mouth and to keep the door â—f thy Lips and take care that no lying â—ain-glorious Jesting frothy or idle Discourse proceed from thence consisering that thou must give an account â—f every idle word as well as sinful action Keep always a Religious sense of God in thy Soul and let no sensual pleaâ—ure or delight stain thy innocency When the time for Rest draws nigh â—etire to thy Closet cast off as much as â—hou canst all worldly thoughts and use â—hese or the like Ejaculations Let the words of my Mouth and the Meditations of my Heart be now and â—lways acceptable in thy sight O Lord my Strength and my Redeemâ—r O Lord I beseech thee bring into my â—emembrance the Sins of the day past whether of Omission or Commission whether of Thoughts Words or Actiâ—ns that so I may humbly confess them â—efore thee and find favour at thy Hands â—r the pardon of them in and through fesus Christ And also I humbly pray â—hee the mercies of the Day past wheâ—her Spiritual or Temporal that so I â—ay in some measure offer unto thy Divine Majesty that praise which is due unto thy Great and Glorious Name for them Then reflect and consider how you have spent the Day in what Company you have been how you have discharg'd your Duty in your Place Relation or Calling and how you have in all things behaved your self And if any Sin beyond the common frailties of Nature hath passed from thee keep a Diary of it that thou mayest repent it over again on thy Fast Days or before the Sacrament And that you may not think this Task and Discipline too severe to speak nothing of the common practise of pious Christians even Heathen Philosophers took this Course Pythagras Seneca and Plutarch yea the poor barbarous Indians as Apuleius reports used to call themselves to a daily account of the good and evil of the day and how much greater obligation lies upon us Christians besides the serenity and tranquility of mind every Man feels by such short reckonings with God Almighty I leave to every Man piously inclined to consider And that thou mayest do this the better after a general survey of thy Company Actions and the like in particular examine if thy thoughts have not been vain peevish uncharitable or unchast Whether they have been so holy or at least so innocent as they ought to have been c If thy words have not been vain and empty rash and inconsiderate Whether no foolish speaking or jesting lying or frothy and corrupt Communication hath proceeded out of â—hy Mouth Whether thou hast not slanâ—ered or back-bitten thy Neighbour Whether thy words have been mix'd with that Grace Discretion tending â—o Reprehension and Edification as they ought to have been Whether thy Actions have not been â—nweighed and inconsiderate Whether â—hou hast had purity of intention in â—hem Whether thou hast been so temâ—erate so chast so careful of spendâ—ng thy Time and Estate as thou oughtâ—st to have been Whether thou hast â—ischarged thy Duty in thy Calling as â—hou shouldest or whether thou hast oâ—itted any Duty which thou oughtest 〈◊〉 have perform'd and hast had opporâ—nity for Where thou hast been faulâ— confess it humbly to God and anâ—ex this short Ejaculation Lord be merâ—ful to me a Sinner And venture no more to sleep in thy sins unreconciled to God than thou would'st to die so for for ought thou know'st thou maist now sleep in Death and never see the dawn of another day Then seriously and thankfully consider also the Mercies of the day past both spiritual and temporal which may be commonly such as these delivering thee from those many sad casualties and accidents which might justly have faln upon thee by reason of thy Sins refreshing thee plentifully with his good Creatures blessing thee in thy Studies Labours and Undertakings giving thee leave to lift up thy Soul to him by some tho weak and imperfect Prayers and Praises and also preserving thee if it hath so happen'd from any presumptious sin into which thou would'st certainly have fallen had not Gods restraining Grace prevented thee c. Then say Not unto me not unto me but unto thy Name be the praise Blessed be the Lord God which daily loadeth me with his benefits even the God of my Salvation and blessed be the Name â—f his Majesty for ever Then read a Chapter in the New Testament meditate on it and theâ— immediately before you Address your ielf to God by Prayer to help your Devotion consider that God is a most Holy God that he will be sanctifi'd of all them who draw near unto him that
already by better Heads been so largely and learnedly discussed nor yet pretend to the invention of many new but only cull out a few which seem to me most cogent and convincing and which have given me the greatest confirmation of my own Faithin the Existence of a Deity SECTION I. Concerning God and what he is IT was not without great Reason advised by the Wisest of Kings that when we had a mind to speak any thing before God we should not be hasty to utter it and Aristotle teaches us Nunquam nos-verecundiores esse debere quam cum de diis agitur That we never ought to be more modest than when we have to do about God and there is no doubt but that when we speak not only before God but of him we ought most seriously to weigh our thoughts and words and with much caution produce them lest we should any way derogate from the Purity and Excellencies of so transcendent Majesty But when we have weighed and considered all that we can of him our Apprehensions are very narrow and scant and our Notions of him come infinitely short of his Divine Perfections For as he is Invisible to the Eye so he is Incomprehensible to the Mind Whatsoever we conceive it is but in part there is much more we cannot perceive nor comprehend He is represented to us a Spiritual and Incorporal Essence and till we come to be unbodied our selves we cannot perfectly conceive what he is so that we may conclude with Aristotle Hoc tantum scio me nihil scire This only we know that we know nothing or with a Diviner Authori Elihu Job 37.23 Touching the Almighty we cannot find him out There is no question but those that duly Worship and Honour God duly agnise and are acquainted with him But if the Atheist to whom the greatest part of this Discourse is directed should interrogate Where is your God Jovis omnia plena And bid us Worship what we know we answer God fills every place John 4.22 and we know what we Worship and that is the true God whose Nature and Infinity though we who are but finite Creatures cannot sufficiently comprehend yet he is more cognoscible to us by his Perfections and Attributes than any other thing whatsoever Under the Notion therefore of a God I understand a Being that is Eternal Omniscient Omnipotent the Fountain of all Goodness Mercy and Truth the Creator of all things and finally that hath in himself the Complement of all Perfections This is a Glympse a general Notion that we now have of that most glorious God we Revere and Adore Job 26.14 We now hear of him but a little portion saith Job We know but in part 1 Cor. 13.12 and see him but darkly as through a Perspective Glass in the Works of his Creation but hereafter when this earthy Tabernacle of ours shall be dismantled We shall know him as we are known and see him face to face Our Eyes are now too weak to behold this dazling Sun but then they shall be strenghened and enlightned all mists dispelled and we shall with Cherubims and Seraphims admire its lustre and bear our part to him in that Divine Anthem Revel 4.11 Thou art worthy O Lord to receive Glory and Honour and Power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created Let us learn then hence this Corollary That though God be invisible to the Eye and incomprehensible to the Mind and as Job says We cannot find him out in his perfection Job 11.7 Let us lay by our Sense and Reason and apprehend him now by Faith that so we may know him to our Salvation for ever SECT II. That the Existence of a God and a Providence in the World is as cleerly demonstrable as any Truth whatsoever IT hath been often disputed if there ever were and whether it is possible there ever should be such a Prodigy in Nature as a Speculative Atheist and it hath been generally carried in the Negative and for my part I can hardly believe that there is such a Monster in the World for amongst the immense number of Deities that remoter Nations have had and their disagreeings what Gods they ought to have yet none were so wild and barbarous as totally to renounce all Nulla gens est neque tam immansueta neque tam fera quae non etiamsi ignoret qualem habere deum deceat tamen habeâ—dum sciat Cicero de Legib. lib. 1. And again Nulla gens tam fera nemo omnium tam sitim manis cujus mentem non imbuerit deorum opinio Tusc Qu. lib. 1. So Seneca Nulla gens usquam estadeo extra leges moresque projecta ut non aliquos deos credat Epist 118. In omnium animis deorum notionem impressit ipsa natura Nature it self hath herein given Laws to the minds of Men. This is one of those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 common Notions The Law written in our hearts and were there an Absolute impossibility to have this Notion ab Extra yet it is too deeply impress'd there by the God of Nature ever to be errased or obliterated Otherwise what can we think of those who have been born both Deaf and Dumb and understood nothing of any Character to be instructed by yet will give manifest Discoveries of their Apprehension of a God by paying him in their unintelligible way Homage and Adoration and often prostrating themselves on the Earth with their Eyes and Hands lifted up towards Heaven with the greatest seriousness and reverence imaginable This is a part of Piety St. Basil says we never learn'd but brought with us into the World 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as an impression made in us by the hand of Nature it self Men were heretofore so superstitious in the belief of a Deity that they those rather to err on the right hand than the left and would have too many rather then none at all They would have a Deity for every thing their Corn and their Wine and their Cattel and so that the Romans by that method had multiplied their Gods to above Thirty thousand and other Nations came not much behind them But alass our Age pretends to more light and indeed I think only too much hath dazled our Eyes that we cannot see as far as the Wisest Heathens Non praestat fides quod praestat infidelitas Even Fabricius Cato and Regulus will upbraid and shame many of us who call our selves Christians Heretofore only a few poor Indians Inhabitants of Soldania in Affrick and Cannibals of Ammerica or single persons as Diagoras Milesius Protagoras Abderites Lucian and no number much less Societies of Men ever denyed a Deity but now we need not go so far as those dark and barbarous Corners of the World to search for such Monsters as these who differ but little from the very Brutes we may find them much nearer home in Europe as