hear me and grant I may now approach thee with such humility and contrition love devotion that thou mayest vouch safe to come unto me abide with me communicating to me thy self all the merits of thy Passion And then O Lord let no accusations of Satan or my own conscience amaze or distract me but having peace with thee let me also have peace in my self that this Wine may make glad this Bread of life may strengthen my heart enable me chearfully to run the way of thy Commandments Grant this merciful Saviour for thine own bowels compassions sake EJACULATIONS to be used at the LORDS TABLE LORD I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof I have sinned What shall I do unto thee O thou preserver of men Here recollect some of thy greatest sins If thou Lord shouldst be extream to mark what is done amiss O Lord who may abide it But with the Lord there is mercy and with him is plenteous Redemption Behold O Lord thy beloved Son in whom thou art well pleased Hearken to the cry of his blood which speaketh better things then that of Abel By his Agony and bloody Sweat by his Cross and Passion good Lord deliver me O Lamb of God which takest away the sins of the world grant me thy Peace O Lamb of God which takest away the sins of the world have mercy upon me Immediately before Receiving THOU hast said That he that eateth thy flesh and drinketh thy blood hath eternal life Behold the servant of the Lord be it unto me according to thy word At the Receiving of the Bread BY thy Crucified body deliver me from this body of death At the receiving of the Cup. O LET this blood of thine purge my conscience from dead works to serve the living God Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean O touch me and say I will be thou clean After Receiving WHAT shall I render unto the Lord for all the benefits he hath done unto me I will take the Cup of Salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing Therefore blessing honour glory and power be to him that sitteth upon the Throne and to the Lamb for ever and ever Amen I have sworn and am stedfastly purposed to keep thy righteous judgements O hold thou up my goings in thy paths that my footsteps slip not A Thanksgiving after the Receiving of the Sacrament O Thou fountain of all goodness from whom every good and perfect gift cometh and to whom all honour and glory should be returned I desire with all the most fervent and inflamed affections of a grateful heart to bless and praise thee for those inestimable mercies thou hast vouchsafed me Lord what is man that thou shouldst so regard him as to send thy beloved Son to suffer such bitter things for him But Lord what am I the worst of men that I should have any part in this attonement who have so oft despised him and his sufferings O the height and depth of this mercy of thine that art pleased to admit me to the renewing of that Covenant with thee which I have so often and so perversly broken that I who am not worthy of that dayly bread which sustains the body should be made partaker of this bread of life which nourisheth the soul and that the God of all purity should vouchsafe to unite himself to so polluted a wretch O my God suffer me no more I bâ—seech thee to turn thy grace into wantonness to make thy mercy an occasion of security but let this unspeakable love of thine constrain me to obedience that since my blessed Lord hath died for me I may no longer live unto my self but to him O Lord I know there is no concord between Christ and Belial therefore since he hath now been pleased to enter my heart O let me never permit any lust to chace him thence but let him that hath so dearly bought me still keep possession of me and let nothing ever take me out of his hand To this end be thou graciously pleased to watch over me and defend me from all assaults of my spiritual enemies but especially deliver me from my self from the treachery of my own heart which is too willing to yield it self a prey And where thou seest I am either by nature or custome most weak there do thou I beseech thee magnifie thy power in my preservation Here mention thy most dangerous temptations And Lord let my Saviours sufferings for my sins and the Vows I have now made against them never depart from my minde but let the remembrance of the one enable me to perform the other that I may never make truce with those lusts which nailed his hands pierced his side and made his soul heavy to the death But that having now anew listed my self under his banner I may fight manfully and follow the Captain of my Salvation even through a sea of blood Lord lift up my hands that hang down and my feeble knees that I faint not in this warfare O be thou my strength who am not able of my self to struggle with the slightest temptations How often have I turned my back in the day of battel How many of these Sacramental vows have I violated And Lord I have still the same unconstant deceitful heart to betray me to the breach of this O thou who art Yea and Amen in whom there is no shadow of change communicate to me I beseech thee such a stability of minde that I may no more thus start aside like a broken bow but that having my heart whole with thee I may continue stedfast in thy Covenant that not one good purpose which thy Spirit hath raised in me this day may vanish as so many have formerly done but that they may bring forth fruit unto life eternal Grant this O merciful father through the merits and mediation of my Cruâ—ified Saviour A Prayer of Intercession to be used either before or after the receiving of the Sacrament O MOST gracious Lord who so tenderly lovedst mankind as to give thy dear Son out of thy Bosome to be a propitiation for the sins of the whole word grant that the effect of this Redemption may be as universal as the design of it that it may be to the salvation of all O let no person by impenitence and wilful sin forfeit his part in it but by the power of thy grace bring all even the most obstinate sinners to repentance Inlighten all that sit in darkness all Jews Turks Infidels and Hereticks take from them all blindness hardness of heart and contempt of thy Word and so fetch them home blessed Lord unto thy fold that they may be saved among the number of the true Israelites And for all those upon whom the Name of thy Son is called grant O Lord that their conversations may
before God Secondly have a special care to flye Idleness which is the proper soil for these filthy weeds to grow in and keep thy self always busied in some innocent or virtuous employment for then these fancies will be less apt to offer themselves Thirdly never suffer thy self to recal any unclean passages of thy former life with delight for that is to act over the sin again and will be so reckoned by God nay perhaps thus deliberately to think of it may be a greater guilt then a rash acting of it For this both shews thy heart to be set upon filthiness and is also a preparation to more acts of it Fourthly forbear the company of such light and wanton persons as either by the filthiness of their discourse or any other means may be a snare to thee Fifthly pray earnestly that God would give thee the Spirit of Purity especially at the time of any present temptation Bring the unclean Divel to Christ to be cast out as did the man in the Gospel and if it will not be cast out with Prayer alone add Fasting to it but be sure thou do not keep up the flame by any high or immoderate feeding The last remedy when the former prove vain is Marriage which becomes a duty to him that cannot live innocently without it But even here there must be care taken lest this which should be for his good become not to him an occasion of falling for want of sobriety in the use of marriage But this I have toucht on already and therefore need adde no more but an earnest intreaty That men would consider seriously of the foulness and danger of this sin of uncleanness and not let the commonness of it lessen their hatred of it but rather make them abhor that shameless impudence of the world that can make light of this sin against which God hath pronounced such heavy curses Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge Heb. 13. 4. and so he will certainly do all sorts of unclean persons whatsoever 25. The second VIRTUE that concerns our bodies is TEMPERANCE And the exercises of that are divers as first temperance in Eating secondly In Drinking thirdly in Sleep fourthly in Recreation fifthly in apparel I shall speak of them severally and first of temperance in eating This temperance is observed when our eating is agreeable to those ends to which eating is by God and Nature designed those are first the being secondly the well-being of our bodies 26. Man is of such a frame that Eating becomes necessary to him for the preserving his life hunger being a natural disease which will prove deadly if not prevented and the onely Physick for it is Eating which is therefore become a necessary means of keeping us alive And that is the first end of eating and as men use not to take Physick for pleasure but remedy so neither should they eat 27. But secondly God hath been so bountiful as to provide not only for the being but the well being of our bodies and therefore we are not tyed to such strictness that we may eat no more then will just keep us from starving but we may also eat whatsoever either for kind or quantity most tends to the health and welfare of them Now that eating which is agreeable to these ends is within the bounds of temperance as on the contrary whatsoever is contrary to them is a transgression against it he therefore that sets up to himself other ends of eating as either the pleasing of his taste what is yet worse the pampering of his body that he may the better serve his lust he directly thwarts and crosses these ends of Gods for he that hath those aims doth that which is very contrary to health yea to life it self as appears by the many diseases and untimely deaths which surfetting and uncleanness daily bring on men 28. He therefore that will practice this Virtue of Temperance must neither eat so much nor of any such sorts of meat provided he can have other as may be hurtful to his health what the sorts or quantities shall be is impossible to set down for that differs according to the several constitutions of men some men may with temperance eat a great deal because their stomacks require it when another may be guilty of intemperance in eating but half so much because it is more then is useful to him And so also for the sort of meat it may be niceness and luxury for some to be curious in them when yet some degree of it may be necessary to the infirmities of a weak stomach which not out of wantonness but disease cannot eat the courser meats But I think it may in general be said That to healthful bodies the plainest meats are generally the most wholsome but every man must in this be left to judge for himself and that he may do it aright he must be careful that he never suffer himself to be enslaved to his palate for that will be sure to satisfie it self whatever becomes of health or life 29. To secure him the better let him consider First How unreasonable a thing it is that the whole body should be subjected to this one Sense of Tasting that it must run all hazards only to please that But it is yet much more so that the diviner part the Soul should also be thus enslaved and yet thus it is in an intemperate person his very soul must be sacrificed to this Brutish appetite for the sin of intemperance though it be acted by the Body yet the Soul must share in the eternal punishment of it Secondly Consider how extreme short and vanishing this pleasure is it is gone in a moment but the pains that attend the excess of it are much more durable and then surely it agrees not with that common reason wherewith as men we are indued to set our hearts upon it But then in the third place it agrees yet worse with the temper of a Christian who should have his heart so purisied and refined with the expectation of those higher and spiritual joyes he looks for in another world that he should very much despise these gross and brutish pleasures which beasts are as capable of as we and to them we may well be counted to leave them it being the highest their natures can reach to but for us who have so much more excellent hopes it is an intolerable shame that we should account them as any part of our happiness Lastly The sin of Gluttony is so great and dangerous that Christ thought fit to give an especial warning against it take heed to your selves that your hearts be not overcharged with surfetting c. Luk. 21. 34. And you know what was the end of the rich glutton Luk. 16. He that had fared deliciously every day at last wants a drop of water to cool his tongue So much for that first sort of Temperance that of Eating PARTITION VIII Of Temperance in
The Whole DUTY of MAN laid down IN A PLAIN WAY for the use of the MEANEST READER Dwided into XVII CHAPTERS One whereof being read every LORDS DAY the whole may be Read over thrice in the Year Necessary for all Families With PRIVATE DEVOTIONS London Printed for T. Garthwait at the little North Door of S. Pauls 1659 Mr. GARTHWAIT YOu needed not any Intercession to recommend this task to me which brought its Invitations and Reward with it I very willingly read over all the sheets both of the Discourse and the Devotions annext and finde great cause to bless God for both not discerning what is wanting in any part of either to render it with Gods blessing most sufficient and proper to the great End designed the Spiritual supplies and advantages of all those that shall be exercised therein The Subject matter of it is indeed what the Title undertakes The Whole Duty of Man Set down in all the Branches with those advantages of brevity and Partitions to invite and support and engage the Reader That Condescension to the meanest capacities but with all That weight of Spiritual Arguments wherein the best Proficients will be glad to be assisted that it seems to me equally fitted for both sorts of Readers which shall bring with them a sincere desire of their own either present or future advantages The Devotion part in the Conclusion is no way inferiour being a seasonable aid to every mans Infirmities and hath extended it self very particularly to all our principal concernments The Introduction hath supplyed the place of a Preface which you seem to desire from me and leaves me no more to add but my Prayers to God That the Author which hath taken care to convey so liberal an Alms to the Corban so secretly may not miss to be rewarded openly in the visible power and benefit of this Work on the hearts of the whole Nation which was never in more need of such supplyes as are here afforded That his All-sufficient Grace will blesse the seed sown and give an abundant encrease is the humblest request of March 7. 1657 Your assured Friend H. HAMMOND A PREFACE To the ensuing TREATISE shewing the Necessity of Careing for the Soul Sect. 1. THE only intent of this ensuing Treatise is to be a short and Plain Direction to the very meanest Readers to behave themselves so in this world that they may be happy for ever in the next But because 't is in vain to tell men their Duties till they be perswaded of the necessity of performing it I shall before I proceed to the Particulars required of every Christian endeavour to win them to the practice of one general Duty preparatory to all the rest and that is the Consideration and CARE of their own SOULS without which they will never think themselves much concern'd in the other 2. MAN We know is made up of two parts a BODY and a SOUL The Body only the husk or shell of the Soul a lump of flesh subject to many diseases and pains while it lives and at last to Death it self and then 't is so far from being valued that 't is not to be endured above ground but layed to rot in the Earth Yet to this viler part of us we perform a great deal of Care all the labour toil we are at is to maintain that But the more precious part the Soul is little thought of no care taken how it fares but as if it were a thing that nothing concern'd us is left quite neglected never consider'd by us 3. This Carelesness of the Soul is the root of all the sin we commit therefore whosoever intends to sit upon a Christian course must in the first place amend that To the doing whereof there needs no deep learning or extraordinary parts the simplest man living that is not a natural fool hath understanding enough for it if he will but act in this by the same Rules of cōmon Reason whereby he proceeds in his worldly business I will therefore now briefly set down some of those Motives which use to stir up our care of any outward thing and then apply them to the Soul 4. There be FOUR things especially which use to awake our care the first is the Worth of the thing the Second the Usefulness of it to us when we cannot part with it without great damage and mischief the Third the great Danger of it and the Fourth the Likelihood that our care will not be in vain but that it will preserve the Thing cared for 5. For the First we know our care of any worldly thing is answerable to the worth of it what is of greatest Price we are most watchful to preserve most fearful to lose no man locks up dung in his chest but his money or what he counts precious he doth Now in this respect the Soul deserves more care then all the things in the world besides for t is infinitely more worth First in that it is made after the Image of God it was God that breathed into man this breath of life Gen. 2. 7. Now God being of the greatest Excellency and worth the more anything is like him the more it is to be valued But 't is sure that no Creature upon the earth is at all like God but the Soul of man and therefore nothing ought to have so much of our care Secondly the Soul never Dies We use to prize things according to their Durableness what is most Lasting is most Worth Now the Soul is a thing that will last for ever when Wealth Beauty Strength nay our very bodies themselves fade away the Soul still Continues Therefore in that respect also the Soul is of the greatest worth and then what strange madness is it for us to neglect them as we do We can spend Days and Weeks and Moneths and Years nay our whole lives in hunting after a little wealth of this world which is of no Durance or continuance and in the mean time let this great durable treasure our Souls be stollen from us by the Divel 6. A second Motive to our care of any thing is the USEFULNES of it to us or the great Mischief we shall have by the loss of it Common Reason teaches us this in all things of this life If our Hairs fall we do not much regard it because we can be well enough without them But if we are in danger to lose our Eyes or Limbs we think all the care we can take little enough to prevent it because we know it will be a great misery But certainly there is no Misery to be compared to that misery that follows the Loss of the Soul 'T is true we cannot Lose our Souls in one sense that is so lose them that they shall cease to Be but we may lose them in another that we shall wish to lose them even in that That is we may lose that happy estate to which they were created and plunge them
into the extremest misery In a word we may Lose them in Hell whence there is no fetching them back and so they are lost for ever Nay in this consideration our very bodies are concerned those Darlings of ours for which all our care is layed out for they must certainly after Death be Raised again and be joyned again to the Soul and take part with it in whatever state if then our care for the body take up all our Time and Thoughts and leave us none to bestow on the poor Soul it is sure the Soul will for want of that care be made for ever Miserable But it is as sure that that very Body must be so too And therefore if you have any true kindness to your Body shew it by taking Care of your Souls Think with your selves how you will be able to Endure Everlasting Burnings if a small spark of Fire lighting on the least part of the body be so intolerable what will it be to have the Whole cast into the hottest flames And that not for some few hours or days but for ever so that when you have spent many Thousands of years in that unspeakable Torment you shall be no nearer coming out of it then you were the First Day you went in think of this I say and think this withal that this will certainly be the end of Neglecting the Soul and therefore afford it some care if it be but in pity to the Body that must bear a part in its Miseries 7. The Third Motive to tke care of any thing is its being in DANGER now a thing may be in danger two ways first by Enemies from without This is the Case of the Sheep which is still in danger of being Devoured by Wolves and we know that makes the Shepherd so much the more watchful over it Thus is it with the Soul which is in a great deal of Danger in respect of its enemies those we know are the World the Flesh and the Devil which are all such noted enemies to it that the very First Act we do in behalf of our Souls is to Vow a continual War against them This we all do in our Baptisme and whoever makes any Truce with any of them is false not only to his Soul but to his Vow also becomes a Forsworn creature A Consideration well worthy our laying to heart But that we may the better understand what Danger the Soul is in let us a little consider the quality of these enemies 8. In a War you know there are divers things that make an Enemy terrible The first is Subtilty and Gunning by which alone many victories have been won and in this respect the Divel is a dangerous Adversary he long since gave sufficient proof of his Subtilty in beguiling our first Parents who yet were much wiser then we are and therefore no wonder if he deceive and cheat us Secondly the Watchfulness and Diligence of an Enemy makes him the more to be Feared and here the Divel exceeds it is his trade and business to destroy us and he is no loiterer at it he goes up and down seeking whom he may devour 1 Pet. 5. 8. He watches all Opportunities of Advantage against us with such diligence that he will be sure never to let any slip him Thirdly an Enemy neer us is more to be feared then one at a Distance for if he be far off we may have time to arm and prepare our selves against him but if he be near he may steal on us unawares And of this sort is the flesh it is an Enemy at our Doors shall I say Nay in our Bosoms it is always near us to take occasion of doing us mischiefs Fourthly the Baser and Falser an Enemy is the more dangerous he that Hides his malice under the shew of Friendship will be able to do a great deal the more hurt And this again is the flesh which like Joab to Abner 2 Sam. 3. 27. Pretends to speak peaceably to us but wounds us to death t is forward to purvey for Pleasures and Delights for us and so seems very kinde but it has a hook under that bait and if we bite at it we are lost Fifthly the Number of Enemies make them more Terrible and the World is a vast Army against us There is no state or condition in it nay scarce a creature which doth not at sometime or other fight against the Soul The Honours of the world seek to wound us by pride the Wealth by covetousness the Prosperity of it tempt us to Forget God the Adversities to murmur at him Our very Table becomes a snare to us our me at draws us to Gluttony our drink to Drunkenness our Company nay our nearest Friends often bear a part in this War against us whilest either by their example or perswasions they intice us to sin 9. Consider all this and then tell me whether a Soul thus beset hath leasure to sleep even Dalilah could tell Sampson it was time to awake when the Philistines were upon him And CHRIST tells us if the good man of the house had known in what houre the Thief would come he would have watched and not have suffered his house to be broken up Mat. 24. 43. But we live in the midst of Thieves and therefore must look for them every houre and yet who is there among us that hath that common providence for this precious part of him his Soul which he hath for his house or indeed the meanest thing that belongs to him I fear our Souls may say to us as Christ to his Disciples Mat. 26. 40. What could ye not watch with me one houre For I doubt it would pose many of us to tell when we bestowed one Houre on them though we know them to be continually beset with most Dangerous Enemies And then alas What is like to be the case of these poor Souls when their Adversaries bestow so much Care and Diligence to destroy them and we will afford none to preserve them Surely the same as of a Besieged Town where no Watch or Guard is kept which is certain to fall a prey to the enemy Consider this ye that forget God nay ye that forget your selves lest he pluck you away and there be none to deliver you Psal. 50. 22. 10. But I told you there was a Second way whereby a thing may be in Danger and that is from some Disorder or Distemper within it self This is often the case of our Bodies they are not only lyable to outward Violence but they are within themselves Sick and Diseased And then we can be sensible enough that they are in danger and need not to be taught to seek out for means to recover them But this is also the case of the Soul we reckon those parts of the body diseased that do not rightly perform their office we account it a sick palate that tastes not aright a sick stomack that digests not And thus it is with the Soul
when its parts do not rightly perform their Offices 11. The parts of the Soul are especially these three The UNDERSTANDING the WILL and the AFFECTIONS And that these are disordered there needs little proof let any man look seviously into his own Heart and consider how little it is he knows of spiritual things and then tell me whether his Understanding be not dark How much apter is he to Will evil then good and then tell me whether his Will be not Crooked And how strong Desires he hath after the pleasures of sin and what cold and faint ones towards God and goodness and then tell me whether his Affections be not disordered and rebellious even against the voice of his own Reason within him Now as in bodily diseases the first step to the cure is to know the Cause of the sickness so likewise here it is very necessary for us to know how the Soul first fell into this Diseased condition and that I shall now briefly tell you 12. GOD created the first Man Adam without Sin and indued his Soul with the full knowledg of his Duty and with such a strength that he might if he would perform all that was required of him Having thus created him He makes a COVENANT or agreement with him to this purpose that if he continued in Obedience to God without committing Sin then first that Strength of Soul which he then had should still be continued to him and secondly That he should never Die but he taken up into Heaven there to be Happy for ever But on the other side if he committed Sin and Disobeyed God then both He and all his Children after him should lose that Knowledg and that perfect strength which enabled him to do all that God required of him and Secondly should be subject to death and not only so but to Eternal damnation in Hell 13. This was the Agreement made with Adam and all mankind in him which we usually call the FIRST COVENANT upon which God gave Adam a particular commandment which was no more but this That he should not eat of one only tree of that garden wherein he had placed him But he by the perswasion of the Devil eats of that Tree disobeys God and so brings that curse upon himself and all his posterity And so by that one Sin of his he lost both the full Knowledge of his Duty and the Power of performing it And we being born after his Image did so likewise and so are become both Ignorant in Discerning what we ought to Do and Weak and unable to the Doing of it having a backwardness to all good and an aptness and readiness to all evil like a sick stomack which loaths all wholsome food and longs after such trash as may nourish the disease 14. And now you see where we got this Sickness of soul and likewise that it is like to prove a Deadly one and therefore I presume I need say no more to assure you our Souls are in danger It is more likely you will from this description think them hopeless But that you may not from that conâ—eit excuse your Neglect of them I shall hasten to shew yâ—â— the contrary by proceeding to the fourth Motive of Care 15. That Fourth Motive is the likelyhood that our CARE will not be in VAIN but that it will be a means to preserve the thing cared for where this is wanting it disheartens our care A Physician leaves his Patient when he sees him past Hope as knowing it is then in vain to give him any thing but on the contrary when he sees hopes of recovery he plies him with Medicines Now in this very respect we have a great deal of reason to take care of our souls for they are not so far gone but they may be recovered nay it is certain they will if we do our parts towards it 16. For though by that Sin of Adam all mankinde were under the sentence of eternal condemnation yet it pleased God so far to pity our misery as to give us his Son and in him to make a new Covenant with us after we had broken the first 17. This SECOND COVENANT was made with Adam and us in him presently after his Fall and is briefly contained in those wards Gen. 3. 15. Where God declares that THE SEED OF THE WOMAN SHALL BREAK THE SERPENTS HEAD and this was made up as the first was of some mercies to be afforded by God and some duties to be performed by us 18. God therein promises to send his only Son who is God equal with himself to earth to become man like unto us in all things sin only excepted and he to do for us these Several things 19. Frst to make Known to us the whole Will of his Father in the performance whereof we shall be sure to be Accepted and rewarded by him And this was one great part of his business which he performed in those many Sermons and Precepts we finde set down in the Gospel And herein he is our PROPHET it being the work of a Prophet of old not only to foretel but to Teach Our Duty in this particular is to hearken diligently to him to be most ready and desirous to learn that will of God which he came from heaven to reveal to us The Second thing He was to do for us was to Satisfie God for our Sins not only that one of Adam but all the Sins of all Mankind that truly repent and amend and by this means to obtain for us Forgiveness of sins the Favour of God and so to Redeem us from Hell and eternal damnation which was the punishment due to our sin All this he did for us by his death He offered up himself a Sacrifice for the Sins of all those who heartily bewail and forsake them And in this He is our PRIEST it being the Priests Office to Offer Sacrifice for the sins of the people Our Duty in this particular is first truly and heartily to Repent us of and forsake our Sins without which they will never be forgiven us though Christ have died Secondly stedfastly to Believe that if we do that we shall have the benefits of that Sacrifice of his all our sins how many and great soever shall be forgiven us and we saved from those eternal punishments which were due unto us for them Another part of the PRIESTS Office was Blessing and Praying for the people and this also Christ performs to us It was his especial Commission from his Father to Bless us as St. Peter tells us Acts 3. 26. God sent his Son Jesus to Bless you the following words shew wherein that blessing consists in turning away every one of you from his iniquity those means which he has used for the turning us from our Sins are to be reckoned of all other the greatest blessings and for the other part that of Praying that he not only performed on earth but continues still to do it in
our Love 39. But I fear there are not many have this to shew for it as appears by the common backwardness and unwillingness of men to come to these and their negligence and heartlesness when they are at them and can we think that God will ever own us for lovers of him whilest we have such dislikes to his company that we will never come into it but when we are drag'd by fear or shame of men or some such worldly Motive It is sure you would not think that man loved you whom you perceived to shun your company and to be loath to come in your sight And therefore be not so unreasonable as to say You love God when yet you desire to keep as far from him as you can 40. But besides this there is another Enjoyment of God which is more perfect and compleat and that is our perpetual enjoying of him in heaven where we shal be for ever united to him and enjoy him not now and then only for short spaces of time as we do here but continually without interruption or breaking off And certainly if we have that degree of love to God we ought this cannot but be most earnestly desired by us so much that we shall think no labour too great to compass it The seven years that Jacob served for Rachel Gen. 29. 20. seemed to him but a few dayes for the love that he had to her surely if we have love to God we shall not think the service of our whole lives too dear a price for this full Enjoyment of him nor esteem all the Enjoyments of the world worth the looking on in comparison thereof 41. If we can truly tell our selves we do thus long for this enjoyment of God we may believe we love him But I fear again there are but few that can thus approve their love For if we look into mens lives we shall see they are not generally so fond of this Enjoyment as to be at any pains to purchase it And not only so but it is to be doubted there are many who if it were put to their choice whether they would live here alwayes to enjoy the profit and pleasure of the world or go to heaven to enjoy God would like the children of Gad and Reuben set up their rest on this side Jordan Num. 32. and never desire that heavenly Canaan so close do their affections cleave to things below which shews clearly they have not made God their treasure for then according to our Saviours Rule Mat. 6. 21. their heart would be with him Nay further yet it is too plain that many of us set so little value on this Enjoying of God that we preser the vilest and basest sins before him and chuse to Enjoy them though by it we utterly lose our parts in Him which is the case of every man that continues wilfully in those sins 42. And now I fear according to these Rules of Trial many that prefess to love God will be found not to do so I conclude al with the words of S. John 1 Ep. 3. 18. Which though spoken of the love of our brethren is very fitly appliable to this love of God let us not love in word neither in tongue but in deed and in truth 43. A Fourth duty to God is FEAR this arises from the consideration both of his Justice his Power his Justice is such that he will not clear the wicked his Power such that he is able to inflict the sorest punishments upon them and that this is a reasonable cause of fear Christ himself tells us Mat. 10. 18. Fear him which is able to destroy both body and soul in hell Many other places of Scripture there are which commend to us this duty as Ps. 2. 11. Serve the Lord with fear Psal. 34. 9. Fear the Lord ye that be his Saints Pro. 9. 10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and divers the like and indeed all the threatnings of wrath against sinners which we meet with in the Scripture are only to this end to work this fear in our hearts 44. Now this fear is nothing else but such an awful regard of God as may keep us from offending him This the wise man tells us Pro. 16. 17. The fear of the Lord is to depart from evil so that none can be said truly to fear God that is not thereby withheld from sin this is but answerable to that common fear we have towards man who ever we know may hurt us we wilbeware of provoking therefore if we be not as wary of displeasing God it is plain we fear men more then we do him 45. How great a madness this is thus to fear men above God will soon appear if we compare what man can do to us with that which God can And first it is sure it is not in the power of man I might say Devils too to do us any hurt unless God permit and suffer them to do it so that if we do but keep him our friend we may say with the Psalmist The Lord is on my side I fear not what man can do unto me For let their malice be never so great he can restrain and keep them from hurting us nay he can change their mindes toward us according to that of the wise man Prov. 16. 7. When a mans wayes please the Lord he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him A notable example of this we have in Jacob Gen. 32. who when his brother Esau was coming against him as an enemy God wonderfully turned his heart so that he met him with all the expressions of brotherly kindness as you may read in the next Chapter 46. But secondly suppose men were left at liberty to do thee what mischief they could alas their power goes but a little way they may perhaps rob thee of thy goods it may be they may take away thy liberty or thy credit or perchance thy life too but that thou knowest is the utmost they can do But now God can do all this when he pleases and that which is infinitely more his vengeance reaches even beyond death it self to the eternal misery both of Body and Soul in hell in comparison of which death is so inconsiderable that we are not to look upon it with any dread Fear not them that kill the body and after that have no more that they can do saith Christ Luke 12. 4. And then immediately adds But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear fear him which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell yea I say unto you Fear him In which words the comparison is set between that greatest ill we can suffer from man the loss of life and those sadder evils God can inflict on us and the latter are found to be the onely dreadful things and therefore God only to be feared 47. But there is yet one thing farther considerable in this matter
privily for the innocent without a cause c. and verse the 13. you may see what is the bait by which they seek to allure them we shall find all precious substance we shall fill our houses with spoil cast in thy lot among us let us all have one purse Fourthly there is assistance in sin that is when men aid and help others either in contriving or acting a sin Thus Jonadab helpt Amnon in plotting the Ravishing of his sister 2 Sam. 13. all these are direct means of bringing this great evil of sin upon our brethren 8. There are also others which though they seem more indirect may yet be as effectual towards that ill end As first example in sin he that sets others an ill pattern does his part to make them imitate it and too often it hath that effect there being generally nothing more forcible to bring men into any sinful practice then the seeing it used by others as might be instanced in many sins to which there is no other temptation but their being in fashion Secondly there is incouragement in sin when either by approving or else at least by not shewing a dislike we give others confidence to go on in their wickedness A third means is by justifying and defending any sinful act of anothers for by that we do not only confirm him in his evil but endanger the drawing others to the like who may be the more inclinable to it when they shall hear it so pleaded for Lastly the bringing up any reproach upon strict and Christian living as those do who have the ways of God in derision this is a means to affright men from the practice of duty when they see it will bring them to be scorned and despised this is worse then all the former not only in respect of the man who is guilty of it as it is an evidence of the great profaneness of his own heart but also in regard of others it having a more general ill effect then any of the former can have it being the betraying men not only to some single acts of disobedience to Christ but even to the casting off all subjection to him By all these means we may draw on our selves this great guilt of injuring and wounding the souls of our brethren 9. It would be too long for me to instance in all the several sins in which it is usual for men to ensnare others as drunkenness uncleannness rebellion and a multitude more But it will concern every man for his own particular to consider sadly what mischiefs of this kinde he hath done to any by all or any of these means and to weigh well the greatness of the injury Men are apt to boast of their innocency towards their neighbours that they have done wrong to no man but God knowes many that thus brag are of all others the most injurious persons perhaps they have not maimed his body nor stoln his goods but alas the body is but the case and cover of the man and the goods some appurtenances to that 't is the soul is the man and that they can wound and pierce without remorse and yet with the adulteress Prov. 30. 20. say They have done no wickedness but glory of their friendly behaviour to those whom they thus betray to eternal ruine for whomsoever thou hast drawn to any sin thou hast done thy part to ascertain to those endless flames And then think with thy self how base a treachery this is thou wouldst call him a treacherous villain that should while he pretends to embrace a man secretly stab him but this of thine is as far beyond that as the soul is of more value then the body and hell worse then death And remember yet farther that besides the cruelty of it to thy poor brother it is also most dangerous to thy self it being that against which Christ hath pronounced a woe Matth. 18. 7. and ver 6. he tells us that whoever shall offend that is draw into sin any of those little ones it were better for him that a milstone were hanged about his neck and that he were drowned in the depth of the Sea Thou maist plunge thy poor brother into perdition but as it is with wrestlers he that gives another a fall commonly falls with him so thou art like to bear him company to that place of torment 10. Let therefore thy own his danger beget in thee a sense of the greatness of this sin this horrid piece of injustice to the precious soul of thy neighbour Bethink thy self seriously to whom thou hast bin thus cruel whom thou hast enticed to drinking advised to rebellion allured to lust stirred up to rage whom thou hast assisted or encouraged in any ill course or discouraged and disheartned by thy profane scoffings at piety in general or at any conscionable strict walking of his in particular and then draw up a bill of indictment accuse and condemn thy self as a Cain a murderer of thy brother heartily and deeply bewail all thy guilts of this kinde and resolve never once more to be a stumbling block as S. Paul calls it Rom. 14. in thy brothers way 11. But this is not all there must be some fruits of this repentance brought forth now in all sins of injustice restitution is a necessary fruit of repentance and so it is here thou hast committed an act perhaps many of high injustice to the soul of thy brother thou hast robbed it of its innocency of its title to heaven thou must now endeavour to restore all this to it again by being more earnest and industrious to win him to repentance then ever thou wert to draw him to sin use now as much art to convince him of the danger as ever thou didst to flatter him with the pleasures of his vice in a word countermine thy self by using all those methods and means to recover him that thou didst to destroy him and be more diligent and zealous in it for 't is necessary thou shouldst both in regard of him and thy self First in respect of him because there is in mans nature so much a greater promptness and readiness to evil then to good that there will need much more pains and diligence to instil the one into him then the other besides the man is supposed to be already accustomed to the contrary which wil adde much to the difficulty of the work Then in respect of thy self if thou be a true penitent thou wilt think thy self obliged as S. Paul did to labour more abundantly and wilt be ashamed that when thou art trading for God bringing back a soul to him thou shouldest not pursue it with more earnestness then while thou art an agent of Satans besides the remembrance that thou art a means of bringing this poor soul into this snare must necessarily quicken thy diligence to get him out of it So much for the first part of negative justice in respect of the souls of our
Gospel Luk. 10. who came looked on the wounded man but did no more which will never be accepted by God These are common and ordinary exercises of this charity for which we cannot want frequent opportunities But besides these there may sometimes by Gods especial providence fall into our hands occasions of doing other good offices to the bodies of our neighbours we may sometimes find a wounded man with the Samaritan and then 't is our duty to do as he did we may sometimes find an innocent person condemned to death as Susanna was and then are with Daniel to use all possible endeavour for their deliverances This case Solomon seems to refer to Prov. 24. 11. If thou forbear to deliver him that is drawn unto death and them that are ready to be slain if thou sayst behold we knew it not doth not he that pondereth the heart consider and he that keepeth thy sâ—â—l doth not he know it shall not be render to every man according to his deeds we are not lightly to put off the matter with vain excuses but to remember that God who knows our most secret thoughts will severely examine whether we have willingly omitted the performance of such a charity sometimes again nay God knowes often now a dayes we may see a man that by a course of intemperance is in danger to destroy his health to shorten his dayes and then it is a due charity not only to the soul but to the body also to endeavour to draw him from it It is impossible to set down all the possible acts of this corporal charity because there may sometimes happen such opportunities as none can foresee we are therefore alwayes to carry about us a serious resolution of doing whatever good of this kind we shall at any time discern occasion for then whenever that occasion is offered we are to look on it as a call as it were from heaven to put that resolution in practice This part of charity seems to be so much implanted in our natures as we are men that we generally account them not only unchristian but inhumane that are void of it and therefore I hope there will not need much perswasion to it since our very nature inclines us but certainly that very consideration wil serve hugely to increase the guilt of those that are wanting in it For since this command is so agreeable even to flesh and blood our disobedience to it can proceed from nothing but a stubborness and resistance against God who gives it PARTITION XVII Of Charity Alms giving c. Of Charity in respect of our Neighbours Credit c. Of Peace-making Of going to Law Of Charity to our Enemies c. Christian Duties both possible and pleasant § 1 THE third way of expressing this Charity is towards the goods or estate of our neighbour we are to endeavour his thriving and prosperity in these outward good things and to that end be willing to assist and farther him in all honest wayes of improveing or preserving them by any neighbourly and friendly office Opportunities of this do many times fall out A man may sometimes by his power or perswasion deliver his neighbours goods out of the hands of a thief or oppressor sometimes again by his advice and counsel he may set him in a way of thriving or turn him from some ruinous course and many other occasions there may be of doing good turns to another without any loss or damage to our selves and then we are to do them even to our rich neighbours those that are as wealthy perhaps much more so as our selves for though Charity do not bind us to give to those that want it lesse then our selves yet whenever we can further their profit without less'ning our own store it requires it of us Nay if the damage be but light to us in comparison of the advantage to him it will become us rather to hazard that light damage then lose him that greater advantage 2. But towards our poor brother Charity tyes us to much more we are there only to consider the supplying of his wants and not to stick at parting with what is our own to relieve him but as far as we are able give freely what is necessary to him This duty of Alms-giving is perfectly necessary for the approving our love not only to men but even to God himself as St. John tels us 1 Jo. 3. 17. Whoso hath this worlds goods and seeth his brother have need and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him how dwelleth the love of God in him 'T is vain for him to pretend to love either God or man who loves his mony so much better that he will see his poor brother who is a man and bears the image of God suffer all extremities rather then part with any thing to relieve him On the other side the performance of this duty is highly acceptable with God as well as with men 3. 'T is called Heb. 13. 16. A sacrifice wherewith God is well pleased and again Phil. 4. 18. St. Paul calls their almes to him a Sacrifice acceptable wel-pleasing to God and the Church hath alwayes look't on it as such and therefore joyned it with the soleumest part of worship the holy Sacrament But because even sacrifices themselves under the Law were often made unacceptable by being maimed and blemished it will here be necessary to enquire what are the due qualifications of this Sacrifice 4. Of these there are some that respect the motive some the manner of our giving The motive may be threefold respecting God our neighbour and our selves That which respects God is obedience and thankfulnesse to him he has commanded we should give alms and therefore one speciall end of our doing so must be the obeying that precept of his And it is from his bounty alone that we receive all our plenty and this is the properest way of expressing our thankfullness for it for as the Psalmist saith our goods extend not unto God Psal. 16. 2. That tribute which we desire to pay out of our estates we cannot pay to his person 'T is the poor that are as it were his Proxey and receivers and therefore what ever we should by way of thankfullness give back again unto God our alms is the way of doing it Secondly in respect of our neighbour the motive must be a true love and compassion to him a tender fellow-feeling of his wants and desire of his comfort and relief Thirdly in respect of our selves the motive is to be the hope of that eternall reward promised to this performance This Christ points out to us when he bids us lay up our treasure in heaven Mat. 6. 20. And to make us friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness that they may receive us into everlasting habitations Luk. 16. 9. That is by a charitable dispencing of our temporall goods to the poor to lay up a stock in heaven to gain a title to
thy blessed will be done I cast my self O Lord at thy feet do with me what thou pleasest Try me as silver is tried so thou bring me out purified And Lord make even my flesh also to subscribe to this resignation that there may be nothing in me that may rebel against thy hand but that having perfectly supprest all repining thoughts I may cheerfully drink of this cup. And how bitter soever thou shalt please to make it Lord let it prove medicinal and cure all the diseases of my soul that it may bring forth in me the peaceable fruit of righteousness That so these light afflictions which are but for a moment may work for me a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory through Jesus Christ. A Thanks giving for Deliverance O BLESSED Lord who art gracious and merciful slow to anger and of great kindness and repentest thee of the evil I thankfully acknowledge before thee that thou hast not dealt with me after my sins nor rewarded me according to my iniquities My rebellions O Lord deserve to be scourged with Scorpions and thou hast corrected them only with a gentle and fatherly Rod neither hast thou suffered me to lie long under that but hast given me a timely and a grcaious issue out of my late distresses O Lord I will be glad and rejoyce in thy mercy for thou hast considered my trouble and hast known my soul in adversity Thou hast smitten and thou hast healed me O let these various methods of thine have their proper effects upon my soul that I who have felt the smart of thy chastisements may stand in awe and not sin and that I who have likewise felt the sweet refreshings of thy mercy may have my heart ravished with it and knit to thee in the firmest bands of love and that by both I may be preserved in a constant entire obedience to thee all my days through Jesus Christ. Directions for the time of Sickness WHEN thou findest thy self visited with Sickness thou art immediately to remember that it is God which with rebukes doth chasten man for sin And therefore let thy first care be to find out what it is that provokes him to smite thee and to that purpose Examine thine own heart search diligently what guilts lie there confess them humbly and penitently to God and for the greater security renew thy Repentance for all the old sins of thy former life beg most earnestly and importunately his mercy and pardon in Christ Jesus and put on sincere and zealous resolutions of forsaking every evil way for the rest of that time which God shall spare thee And that thy own heart deceive thee not in this so weighty a business it will be wisdome to send for some godly Divine not only to assist thee with his prayers but with his counsel also And to that purpose open thy heart so freely to him that he may be able to judge whether thy Repentance be such as may give thee confidence to appear before Gods dreadful Tribunal and that if it be not he may help thee what he can towards the making it so And when thou hast thus provided for thy better part thy Soul then consider thy Body also and as the Wise man saith Eccluâ— 38. 12. Give place to the Physician for the Lord hath created him Use such means as may be most likely to recover thy health but always remember that the success of them must come from God and beware of Asa's sin who sought to the Physicians and not to the Lord 2 Chro. 6. 12. Dispose also betimes of thy temporal affairs by making thy Will and setting all things in such order as thou meanest finally to leave them in and defer it not till thy sickness grow more violent for then perhaps thou shalt not have such use of thy Reason as may fit thee for it or if thou have it will be then much more seasonable to imploy thy thoughts on higher things on the world thou art going to rather then that thou art about to leave we cannot carry the things of this world with us when we go hence and it is not fit we should carry the thoughts of them Therefore let those be early dispatched that they may not disturb thee at last A Prayer for a sick Person O MERCIFUL and Righteous Lord the God of health and of sickness of life and of death I most unfeignedly acknowledg that my great abuse of those many days of strength and welfare which thou hast afforded me hath most justly deserved thy present visitation I desire O Lord humbly to accept of this punishment of mine iniquity and to bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him And O thou merciful Father who designest not the ruine but the amendment of those whom thou scourgest I beseech thee by thy grace so to sanctifie this correction of thine to me that this sickness of my body may be a means of health to my soul make me diligent to search my heart and do thou O Lord enable me to discover every accursed thing how closely soever concealed there that by the removal thereof I may make way for the removal of this punishment Heal my soul O Lord which hath sinned against thee and then if it be thy blessed will heal my body also restore the voice of joy health unto my dwelling that I may live to praise thee and to bring forth fruits of repentance But if in thy wisdom thou hast otherwise disposed if thou have determined that this sickness shall be unto death I beseech thee to fit prepare me for it give me that sincere and earnest repentance to which thou hast promised mercy and pardon wean my heart from the world and all its fading vanities and make me to gasp and pant after those more excellent and durable joys which are at thy right hand for ever Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon me and in all the pains of my body in all the agonies of my spirit let thy comforts refresh my soul and enable me patiently to wait till my change come And grant O Lord that when my earthly house of this Tabernacle is dissolved I may have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens And that for his sake who by his precious blood hath purchased it for me even Jesus Christ. A THANKSGIVING for RECOVERY O GRACIOUS Lord the God of the spirits of all flesh in whose hand my time is I praise and magnifie thee that thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption and restored me to health again it is thou alone O Lord that hast preserved my life from destruction thou hast chastned and corrected me but thou hast not given me over unto death O let this life which thou hast thus graciously spared be wholy consecrated to thee Behold O Lord I am by thy mercy made whole O make me strictly careful