tell thee as Dalilah did Sampson Judg. 16.5 how can'st thou say I love thee when thy heart is not with me And it may be thy dearest Friends and Familiars may be importunate with thee also for the same thing And then say unto thy self Shall I be able to withstand all these temptations to resist the Importunities of a kind and tender Mother to turn my back upon the Wife of my Bosome and to disoblige all my Friends rather than sin against God and wound my own conscience And further represent unto thy self the worst things that can befall a man in this World as likely to befal thy self for thy Conscience towards God Suppose thou must lose all thou hast in the World yea and thy very life if thou wilt not sin against him suppose thou must suffer the sharpest Reproaches and the most cruel death that ever was invented if thou wilt be faithful to him and do thy duty And then charge thy Heart to tell thee whether it will not sink at such a tryal and basely betray thee to Sin and Shame These are hard things indeed may'st thou say the bare thoughts of them are dreadful and how much more will the things themselves be when thou comest to try them But what good thing was ever obtained without some difficulty and what wise man was ever discouraged with difficulties that was sure of a recompense far exceeding the worst of Troubles he could possibly undergo Is it not reasonable that I should do and suffer any thing that my God shall impose upon me Should not that Life and Being which he hath given me be altogether at his service May not my dear and loving Saviour justly expect as much from me since he hath purchased me with his most precious blood did not he undergo much more for my sake than he requires me to do for his and may not that joy which encouraged him be a just Encouragement for me will not Heaven make Amends for all and justifie my choice and resolution to all the World What if I am weak and frail What if there be many subtle Enemies to this my Undertaking Is not he that is with me greater than all that are against me Cannot the Spirit of my God make my weakness strong and cause me to triumph over all my adversaries has not he done as much for Millions of such Weaklings as I am Have not old men notwithstanding the Infirmities of Age and young men notwithstanding the strength of their Lusts and women notwithstanding the frailty of their sex taken up the very same resolution and in spight of all the Powers of darkness and their accursed Instruments made it good to the last minute of their lives I know I know my God and Saviour will not fail me in so good an Undertaking and he will make my weakness to redound to the Glory of his Grace and therefore I my I must I will I do resolve upon a holy life Thus I do advise thee to consider things before thou do'st resolve that thy resolution may be the work of thy whole Soul that thy Understanding may fully approve of it under the most disadvantagious Circumstances and thy Will entirely embrace it and that nothing may befal thee in thy after-life that may stagger thee as not foreseen or cause thee to question the wisdom of thy Undertaking And this advice thou must know is not the meer issue of my own brains but the Counsel of our great and good Master in two plain Parables Luke 14.28 29. v. c. Which of you saies he intending to build a Tower sitteth not down first and counteth the Cost whether he have sufficient to finish it lest happily after he hath laid the foundation and is not able to finish it all that behold it begin to mock him saying this man began to build and was not able to finish it Or what King going to make war against another King sitteth not down first and considereth whether he be able with Ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with Twenty thousand or else whilst the other is yet a great way off he sendeth an Embassage and desireth conditions of Peace Which Parables do plainly tell us That no wise man will begin to build but upon fore-sight that he shall be able to finish That no wise King will begin a War without first considering his ability to go through with it Nor can he be thought wise that will take upon him to be a disciple of Christ and to follow him in a holy Life before he hath well considered what he undertakes and what Trouble and Danger it may cost him to do so the fruits of such rash and unadvised Undertakings can ordinarily be no other than shame and sorrow If Religion be once throughly wrought into the heart which will not be done in an hour or two and can be done by no better way than by frequent meditations it will in all probability keep possession of it for ever And if a man be once resolved upon the Practice of Piety and Vertue from a full conviction of the goodness and reasonableness of it he will hardly be turned aside from it by any temptation whereas if it be admitted into the borders or the skirts of the Soul only possess the fancy or Imagination and by the help of it alone does warn the affections it will in a little time be cast off and all the good Purposes which it may for the present produce will upon the least alteration of Circumstances be forgotten or laid aside § 2. And therefore in the second place I shall commend to thee that thou do not fully determine and fix thy resolution upon once considering or deliberating how seriously soever thou hast done it but that thou take the matter twice or thrice into consideration after some little Intermissions for so thou wilt discern whether thy resolution be the effect of thy Judgment and thy entire choice or of a good temper of body apt to receive Religious Impressions and a kindly heat kindled by the working of thy Imagination If it be the good temper and warm Imagination that disposes thee to it thou wilt be of another mind after thou hast slept or been dealing in other matters But if it proceed from the better Principle but now mentioned what thou approvest of this day thou wilt approve of to morrow and for ever and the more thou considerest things the better thou wilt like of thy intended resolution and the more ready thou wilt be fully and finally to fix it What thou hast considered one day then in order to a resolution my Counsel is That thou taken a Review of it the next day consider afresh what thou art to do consider the Pleasures which thou must forsake and the difficulties thou must undergo and if after all thou findest thy self sincerely bent to serve the Lord in a Holy and Christian Life and no objection offers it self which thou perceivest thy
to those things that are least agreeable knowing that there are some offices to be done sometimes by a Christian such as visiting poor prisoners and dressing of poor peoples Sores c. Which men of a nice and squeamish sense will hardly be persuaded to perform Mortify thy passions likewise and keep them strictly within their bounds for as he is a beast that is a slave to Sense so is he a Fool that is governed by his Passions In one word consider thy self well mark thy Temper thy Inclinations and affections and keep thy self and them under constant discipline and correction Hast thou a trifling wanton spirit art thou much delighted with the Ralleries Drolleries Sportings and Jestings of wanton Fancies and loose tongues fail not I beseech thee to restrain thy inclinations avoid the company of light and vain persons and turn away thy thoughts from trivial matters to the concernments of a Soul that must shortly appear before the Bar of a just and holy God remembring that the Master whom thou professest to serve was a serious grave and useful person and not a Buffoon or Stage-player It was the grief of a devout man many years agone St. Bernard to observe the lightness laughter and security of many Christians and his continual fear that he should see them forsaken of the Divine Grace of which they shewed themselves to be unmindful What Grief what Fear do'st thou think would have possessed his heart if he had lived in this Age and had been a witness of our vanity in this kind we live in a merry World at present and nothing is sacred or weighty enough to escape our Sportings but believe it God will shortly spoil our vain mirth and make us serious whether we will or not Art thou soft slothful inclined to sensuality and voluptuousness rouse up thy self and be alwayes doing take up with coarse Fare fast often lye hard go frequently to the house of Mourning and keep him continually in thine Eye who after a life of continued travel in doing Good had no easier a bed than a Cross to rest upon Do the Riches of the World please thee refuse them when they are offered or let the hand of liberality immediately distribute them to those that want them and keep in mind those good men whom thy Bible tells thee of who though they could have enriched themselves by miracles yet continued poor and had not so much as an house to put their heads in Do wordly Honours tickle thee and the Applauses of men delight thee Retire from publick employments and hide thy self in the meanness and obscurity of a Countrey-life be exact and open in the Practice of those Virtues which are most unfashionable and which the generallity of men have a mean opinion of and forget not That there was a person once in the World who was able to have governed the whole World that lead the greatest part of his Life in the Countrey-Villages and among poor people and would not have his great and mighty works to be publickly spoken of This is to practise Self-Denyal and by these and the like Practices thou wilt in a short time arrive at that perfect resignation to which I desire to lead thee But then in the last place 4. Be sure That in these Practices and in whatever else thou do'st thou take nothing to thy self but refer thy self and all to Almighty God Thou may'st begin well my Brother viz. in renouncing thy self and yet may'st end ill viz. in that very self which thou did'st at first renounce and this thou do'st if thou do'st do these things for the satisfaction of thy self and seekest thy own Glory in them Forget not therefore this last advice 't is not for thy self but for God that thou must be thus imployed that thou may'st be entirely resigned to God and be for ever united with God Thou must be as nothing to thy self and the World must be as nothing to thee that God may be all in all Therefore I advise thee in the third place CHAP. III. Sect. 1. Containing a Third Advice to give up our selves Souls and Bodies intirely to God with several Arguments to persuade us to it Sect. 2. Containing several Directions how to put this Advice of giving our selves to God in Practice § 1. TO give up thy self thy Soul and Body all the faculties of the one and all the members of the other together with all thou hast in the World wholly and entirely to God through Christ Jesus uniting thy self to him in the Closest manner and by the strongest bonds that possibly thou can'st resolving to be his and only his for ever To make thee capable of doing this was the design of my former Advice and if thou can'st practise that well thou wilt readily follow this for those bonds being broken which kept thee from God thou wilt as naturally incline to him as fire does ascend upwards when that which depresses it or keeps it down is removed from it and therefore the fewer words may serve to enforce this Advice upon thee The heads of some few considerations I shall briefly offer thee which thy own Thoughts may work upon and enlarge as thou seest good In the first place then 1. Thou must and do'st acknowledge thy self to be God's Creature He is the only Spring and Root of thy Being and Life And is it not just then that thou shouldest be and live to him and to him alone Art thou not a very unreasonable Creature if thou refusest to be his by whom alone thou art and without whom thou can'st not be at all Yes surely 2. Thou must acknowledge God to be the only Supporter Preserver and Maintainer of thy Life and Being thou livest by him as surely as the Tree by its Root and if he withdraw his quickening Insluence and Power but one Moment thou art dead without Remedy Those Necessaries for the preserving of life which the World furnishes thee withal are all fallen from him and all the virtue and efficacie they have for that purpose is no less from him It is he that refreshes thee by Heat and Light that nourishes thee by Meat and Drink that cures thee by Medicine and Physick and without him thou could'st have no Nourishment no Health no Refreshment And with what Reason then can'st thou withhold thy self from him Surely with none at all 3. thou believest God to be thy Saviour i.e. that he hath given thee his only begotten Son to deliver thee from Sin and Death and to bring thee to everlasting Life and that as he in our Nature hath offered up himself a Sacrifice upon the Cross for thy Sins so he hath undertaken to bring back thy erring and lost Soul to God And therefore thou art a most unworthy and ungratefull wretch if thou wilt not comply with his gracious Undertaking but refusest to be Christ's that thou may'st be God's for ever 4. Thou do'st believe and acknowledge that for this End he hath
no neerer no other way to perfect happiness than to give up thy self wholly to him to submit to his goverment and Conduct to doe whatever he will have thee to do to suffer all that he will lay upon thee to have thine eye always upon him to delight thy self in him to desire and hope more fully and perfectly to know him and enjoy him These things thou knowest or may'st know and thou art capable of acting according to thy knowledge thou can'st give thy self to God thou can'st submit thy self to him thou can'st serve him and obey him with a chearful and active service thou can'st praise and magnifie him and relie altogether upon him and hope and long for a compleat fruition of him Behold then what thou wast made to do and observe how thou art to imploy thy self in the World Here is thy end and this is thy work a work worthy of so excellent a Creature it is called in one word to serve God and whatsoever thou do'st or endeavourest to do or bestowest thy time in that is contrary or impertient to this end is but vanity and folly neer lost labour and will bring forth no fruit but grief and sorrow shame and confusion for that it is not the work that we came into the world to do We were made men that is in the Image of God not to live like beasts no nor to please our selves in any way but to serve and please and glorisy God here and to possess and enjoy him for ever hereafter Judge then good Brother whether thou hast not reason to serve God with all thy Might in a holy and Virtuous life CHAP. II. Containing a second argument to a Holy Life from those obligations which our profession of Christianity laies on us FOrasmuch as thou dost profess thy self a Christian I must desire thee to consider seriously what the Christianity is which thou dost profess and what the profession of it doth oblige or bind thee to To this purpose I beseech thee to reflect upon thy Baptism and to call to mind what was then transacted and done between God and thy Soul or which is all one between God and the Church in thy behalf Now in that Holy Ceremony thou wast dedicated to God the Father Son and Holy Ghost and renouncing-the World the Flesh and the Devil did'st promise and vow obedience to all his commandments and God did mercifully accept of thy abrenuntiation and dedication and did take thee into his house and family that family which Christ did purchase with his bloud and which he governs by his Spirit and for which he hath prepared everlasting bliss and Glory Thou wast then taken off that rotten and corrupt Stock of the first and earthly Adam which brings forth fruit only to Death and Destruction and grafted into the living Stock of the second and Spiritual Adam which fructifies to everlasting Glory and Happiness Thou didst renounce that Principle of Sin and Death which thou didst derive from thy first Parents and whatever is grateful and pleasing to it and giving up thy self to God thou wast received by him and given to his Son Jesus Christ who took possession of thee by his Spirit which is a Principle of new life in thee That all this is done in Baptism not in Ceremony and by way of representation only but in deed and in real effect is plain enough in the Scriptures Thou may'st look into the following places for thy Satisfaction Our Blessed Saviour tells us John 15. v. 5. I am the Vine and ye are the Branches he that abideth in me and I in him bringeth forth much fruit Now this Abiding in him doth presuppose our Ingrafting into him and this was done in our Baptism for then as the Apostle St. Paul tells us 1. Epistle to the Corinth 12.13 v. We were baptized by one spirit into one body and that Body is the body of Christ as you will see v. 27. of the same Chapter And therefore we are said in Baptism to put on Christ Gal. 3. v. 27. and in the 6th Chapter to the Romans we are said to be planted together viz. by Baptism in the likeness of Christ's death v. 5th and by this the same Apostle tells us That we are saved Titus 3. v. 5. According to his mercy he saved us by the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost And that we cannot ordinarily be saved without this Washing and Renewing our Blessed Saviour told Nicodemus John 3. v. 5. Except a man be regenerated of water and the spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God These places of Scripture being understood in that sence which the first and best Christians did take them in do teach us all that which I said before concerning Baptism and the Church whereto we do belong understanding them accordingly doth teach us the same both in the Office of Baptism and the Catechism telling us that in Baptism we are regenerated and made members of Christ and inheritors of that is we have a Right thereby to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven Thou seest then dear Brother what thou art as thou art a Christian and what thou professest thy self to be Thou art separated from the world dedicated and consecrated to God united to Christ Jesus and in him and by him a Child of God and an Heir of everlasting Lise Thou art not thy own therefore but God's and thou art his not only by Creation but by Redemption and Purchase by thy own act and voluntary resignation of thy self to him by Covenant and Promise by a real incorporation into the Body of Christ and the participation of his Spirit This is an honourable and a happy Estate and it was a wonderful Grace that such a worthless rebellious Creature should ever be admitted into it And need I now to tell thee Brother what kind of life such a man as thou art and in such an Estate ought to live It is a rule in Nature thou knowest that such as a Being is such will be the actions and operations of it and therefore it is necessary that thy life and actions be agreeable to thy Being and state as thou art a Christian and since the estate of a Christian is an Holy and Divine estate it is necessary that thy life and actions be Holy and Divine as thy state is Art thou a Member of Christ ingrafted into his Body and quickned by his Spirit and oughtest thou not to be conformable to Christ and to live the life of Christ Art thou a Child of God and oughtest thou not to be led by the Spirit of God Rom. 8.14 and to be a follower or imitator of God as the Apostle saith Ephes 5.1 in Love and Purity Art thou an heir of Heaven for all the Children of God are Heirs Rom. 8.17 and ought not thy Conversation to be in Heaven Ought not thy Thoughts and Desires to be upon thine inheritance and thy Heart and Life to be such as may