requests and what else thou knowest needful and expedient for us and that for Jesus Christ his sake in whose most blessed Name and words we conclude these our imperfect prayers saying as he himself hath taught us Our Father c. A Morning-prayer for a private person O Lord my God merciful and loving to all thy servants pitiful and patient to me thy child gracious and favourable to all those that meekly come unto thee I dare not with the proud Pharisee justifie my self or say I have not sinned I dare not press into thy presence with hope or confidence through mine own merits to be saved but with the poor Publican laying my Soul upon the work of Repentance and with an unfeigned sorrow casting my self down at the footstool of thy Majesty I cry and say O Lord be merciful to me a sinner O my God the horn of my Salvation and my refuge my stony Rock and my defence in whom onely I trust and to whom alone I flee for succour miserable wretch that I am how have I provoked thee I have done evil in thy fight I have stirred up thine anger I have deserved thy displeasure I have sinned I have offended yet thou bearest with me One deep calleth to another the depth of misery to the depth of mercy I feel O Lord but it is thy Spirit that giveth me this feeling that mine Understanding is darkned Conscience seared Memory decayed Will bewitched Heart hardned Affections disordered Conversation corrupted my thoughts desires best actions are abominable in thy sight Mine eyes cannot see thee in thy Creatures mine ears cannot hear thee in thy Word my mouth cannot praise thee in thy Works my hands and feet cannot serve thee in my Calling destruction and calamity are in all my ways and the way of peace I have not known Unto whom now shall I come for comfort unto whom now shall I sue for succour but to thee O Lord whom I will look up to as unto the Brazen Serpent If I repent thou sparest if I return thou embracest yet beside all this though I defer thou waitest Thou teachest the ignorant thou comfortest the pensive thou liftest up from destruction after a fall thou givest to him that asketh thou reclaimest him which wandereth thou invitest him that resisteth thou lookest for him that sleepeth and him thou embracest which returneth Now O Lord what to answer for my disobedience I am ignorant for what am I not subject to by reason of my sins I cannot hide my self from thy presence I could not abide it if thou shouldst enter into Judgment O Father of mercies and God of all comfort pierce my flesh with thy fear so that by fearing I may escape such things as thou dost threaten and restore to me the Joy of thy Salvation that by loving I may taste the felicity which thou hast promised Put thou into my remembrance O Lord the things I should conceive of thee teach me by what words I may call upon thee instruct me with what good works I may please thee Cover thou mine head in the day of battle Let me not be of that number which for a time believe but when temptation cometh go back Grant me I beseech thee the gifts of regeneration to become thy child of Faith to believe thy promise of obedience to do thy will of prayer to seek thy presence of comfort to endure thy trials and of strength to continue thy servant to my life's end Open my blind eyes to see the sins I am most given to give me grace to sigh and groan under the burthen of them and give me spiritual understanding to discern and judge betwixt good and evil Thou hast been good unto me O Lord many ways in my creation redemption vocation sanctification in preserving me all the days of my life hitherunto and in opening thy hand continually and filling my mouth with good things Thou hast preserved me from all dangers of this night past and brought me safe to the beginning of this day whereas thou mightest have made my bed my grave thou mightest have turned my sleep into death unto me but thou lendest me a longer and a larger time to repent Lord increase my zeal further my repentance make me sincerely to imbrace thy mercies I will take the Cup of Salvation and call upon thy Name Receive O Lord this early sacrifice both of my soul and body I offer them up into thy hands to be disposed at thy pleasure and with them unfeigned sighs for offending thee Go on with thy favours towards me thy humble servant go along by me and with me all this day and all the days of my life that I may not step into the path of sin but that thy Law may be my delight all the day long Thou O Lord Christ art risen from the dead Let the power of thy resurrection make me rise unto newness of life And that which is impossible to flesh and bloud make it possible by the virtue of thy blood And so in thy Name I shut up my imperfect prayers both for my self and others in that manner and form of prayer which thou hast taught me Our Father c. An Evening-prayer for a private person O Lord my God who aboundest in all good things and art a liberal bestower of the dainties of heavenly safety I praise and glorifie thee for thy love and bounty towards me this day past having bestowed upon me all things necessary for the day with-holding nothing from me that might be beneficial to me The night now stealeth upon me like a thief and I am nearer to old age than I was in the morning though not nearer to goodness I know not whether thou wilt this night make my bed in the dark and the hour of my visitation be this present evening A wake me then out of that slumber of sin remove from me that sloth that hath all this while hindred thy Grace Forgive me my sins which are more infinite than the stars and more heavy than if mountains lay upon my bosome but thy mercy and the merits of my Redeemer do I trust in in his Name do I sue for a pardon Let my mind O Lord flie from the parching heat of worldly cares under the shadow of thy wings that being hid in temperate coldness it may joyfully sing and say I will lay me down and also sleep in peace Let my memory sleep O Lord my God let it sleep from all evil Suffer not unclean thoughts this night to pollute my body and soul but keep my cogitations chast Let not the Sun go down upon my wrath but if any man this day have done me wrong grant that I may freely and heartily forgive him as I desire at thy hands to be forgiven Keep me from the adversary who sleepeth not but seeketh how he may devour me Anoint me O Lord with the Oyl of thy Spirit that of thy fulness I may be filled with Grace even that Grace which
whom the promises of eternal life belong In the last pace there is nothing in the world that will prove so effectual to comfort men at the hour of death as the sweet thoughts of their being separated from the pollutions of the world How unspeakably comfortable is it for men when they are just stepping into the other world to reflect upon the good life they have led and that they carry in their bosoms Consciences void of offence both towards God and towards man This is indeed that noble and Sovereign Cordial that revives the spirits of good men in their passage through the valley and shadow of death and makes their comforts abound and overflow Death is not so small a matter as some men think in Scripture it is not unfitly called the King of terrours Now nothing can free men from the terrour of it but a good Conscience and this cannot be had without Holiness which makes all calm and serene within It will afford men little pleasure when they come to die to reflect upon the earthly pleasures they have enjoyed these things profit not in the day of wrath but the Conscience of well doing makes men salute death without dread and astonishment and lift up their heads with joy because the day of their redemption approacheth But with the ungodly and wicked it is not so then their sins stare them in their face and so terrifie and affright them that no wonder though in the extremity of their agony they prefer strangling and death to life If holy Job doth so heavily complain of the terrours of God how much more terrifying shall the apprehensions of a severe and terrible judgement be to the unsanctified and polluted To think how shortly he must be everlastingly separate from the good things he enjoyed here and be cast into utter darkness to have his portion with the damned in devouring Flames to be an everlasting resident in the Lake of fire and brimstone where he shall be continually tormented with that gnawing worm that never dies These are the amazing thoughts that will seize upon the sinner his Conscience then will not sleep nothing will be able to allay those Storms and Tempests that are raised by the fearful expectation of the reward due to sin At death men are generally wiser than at other times then they begin to consider what they have been doing and call themselves fool a thousand times for their disobedience and wickedness The smoak of worldly cares that formerly blinded their eyes are now dispelled they see their folly when it is too late to mend it and if they do no more yet Balaam-like they will cry O that I might die the death of the righteous CHAP. IV. Frivolous Cavils and Objections removed THe former Chapters having discovered the Beauty of Holiness and the mighty power and force of Arguments that excite to the practice of it one who weighs all this by the measures of equity cannot as any man would think but look upon it as the strangest prodigie that so just a Cause should miss of its effect and finde the sons of men who pretend to be such Masters of Reason so monstrously foolish in rejecting it upon the account of some frivolous and very fallacious cavils But the truth is resolute Impiety is set upon the Bench and made Judge and no wonder though it pass an unjust sentence and condemn Holiness because of its opposition to Vice The common imputations and prejudices which wicked men load Holiness with I shall reduce to the four following Heads First Holiness lays upon men heavy burdens and grievous to be born which makes humane life joyless and uneasie they being so inconsistent first with Peace and secondly with Pleasure and Satisfaction Secondly Experience informs us that wicked men enjoy pleasure and satisfaction in their ways there being no men so jovial and merry as they and that men who pretend to Holiness are sullen and melancholy and are exposed to heavy sufferings and trials Thirdly 'T is singularity and ambition that prevail more with men than any other motive to be holy Fourthly 'T is the greatest piece of folly ignorance and impudence for men to quit with present pleasures for mere uncertainties The first being the most material Objection I shall therefore more largely and distinctly examine it and in doing of this I shall desire these four things may be considered First that the divine Laws are not grievous and uneasie Secondly that Vice is much more troublesom and difficult than Vertue Thirdly that Holiness conduceth both to the Peace and Happiness of humane Societies and to the temporal Advantage of private persons And Fourthly that there is a great deal of more pleasure in the ways of Holiness than in the commission of sin That the divine Laws are not grievous and uneasie but extreamly reasonable and wise is a truth I have already made plain when I discoursed of the rule of Holiness The whole tenour of the Laws of Christianity being so exceedingly suitable to the very nature of men it cannot be rationally supposed that they can be grievous to them St. Paul to the Philippians gives us a brief and compendious but very full and comprehensive account of what things the Laws of our Christianity enjoyn viz. Whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely and whatsoever things are of good report all which are so agreeable to Reason that even the light of Nature prompts men to the doing of them and fully discovers it self to be an irreconcilable Enemy to all kinde of vices 'T is not then Reason but the impetuous Lusts of men that determines a holy Law to be grievous and uneasie and indeed no wonder though this unjust Judge make Holiness appear formidable and represent it as grievous to Mankinde it being so much the interest of this partial Judge to condemâ— it as criminal and to decrie it as a yoak intolerable and grievous to be born 'T is not probable that the most innocent shall pass uncondemned when an Enemy is set up in the Judgement seat to pass Sentence our blessed Saviour must be pronounced guilty by Pilat although even this uniust Judge openly profest he found no fault in him And seeing our great Law-giver met with so severe a sentence who can expect any more upright verdicts should pass upon his Laws But that the divine Laws are not indeed grievous to be born may easily appear from plain Texts of Scripture which is the onely infallible rule Our great Lord hath himself taught his Disciples That his yoak is easie and his burden light And one of his inspired Disciples has assured us that his commands are not grievous two Texts sufficient methinks to remove all those prejudices that are cast upon a holy life as if it were full of fatigue and trouble But besides Scripture Reason and Experience too come in to witness this truth First Reason
for a devout life than a short meditation on that which shall be the conclusion of life it self First therefore consider the shortness and miseries of this life That our days consume in vanity and our years in trouble That our whole life is but a Dream and when Death awakes us we find our hands emptie of all that which hath cost us so much labour and travail and sorrow and sin Remember the swiftness and suddenness of Death That our days are but a span-long and our flourishing but a flower of the field which though it be not plucked up yet soon withers of it self and falls away The young may die soon but the old cannot live long Remember that in this short life we are yet to provide for an Eternity either of weal or woe and therefore cannot be too careful how we spend every minute of that upon which depends a matter of so great so lasting importance There is but one way of Birth but many ways and means of Death and our life hangs by so small a thread that every little chance is ready to break it off After Death we are immediately called to judgment before the high Court of Heaven to give a severe account how we have performed that duty to which we were Created and accordingly to receive an irrevocable sentence of eternal happiness or misery The Judge before whom we shall stand is infinite both in Knowledge and Power so that it is impossible either to hide any thing from his all-seeing Eye or to escape out of the reach of his Almighty hand The Lord cometh in a day when we look not for him and in an hour when we are not aware Let us therefore watch and wait for his coming that when he knocketh we may open unto him immediately How dangerous and deplorable a condition would it be to be found and taken away in the midst of any sin or in a continued course of sinful life On the contrary how happy and blessed and joyful a thing would it be to be found practising and persevering in that which is good Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing A Prayer preparatory to Death O Eternal Lord God who hast Created the world and all Time who hast made my days as it were a span-long and mine Age even as nothing in respect of thee Teach me so to number my days that I may apply my heart to thy Heavenly wisdom and so carefully imploy this short time which thou hast appointed me to spend here so make up my recknings before that great day come that whensoever thou shalt call me hence I may give such an account of the Talent where with thou hast intrusted me that I may receive that joyful sentence Will done good and faithful servant Grant that I may be always provided with Oyl in my Lamp and ready to enter in with the wise Virgins whensoever the Bridegroom shall come and receive a blessing among those which watch and wait for thy coming so come Lord Jesu come quickly Amen Grace before Meat HUmble our Souls before thee O Lord and cause us to see the smalness of our desert even in respect of the least of thy mercies and bless these thy Creatures to us at this time to the rejoycing of the Soul of thy servants through Jesus Christ Amen Grace after Meat O Lord we return thee most heartie thanks for the mercy we have enjoyed in receiving these thy Creatures for our Bodily relief and let us also labour for the meat that perisheth not for the sake of our Saviour Jesus Christ Amen Grace before Meat WE look up unto thee O Lord who givest us life and breath and all things beseeching thee to forgive us all our sins and to make us such thankful partakers of these thy good Creatures that by a moderate use of them our Bodies may be refreshed and made more fit to accompany our Souls in hearty endeavours to do thee faithful service through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Grace after Meat WE return unto thee O Lord our hearty thanks for these and all other the like mercies bestowed upon us even since we had a being especially for the promises thou hast given us of eternal life by thy Son Christ Enable us we beseech thee to continue so patiently in all good works that at last we may attain it And bless thine Universal Church these Realms the King the Queen and all the Royal Family and grant us thy grace mercy and peace through Christ Jesus Amen FINIS BOOKS Printed for and are to be Sold by Robert Sollers at the Kings Arms in Ludgate-street SErmons preached upon several occasions before the King at Whitehal By the Right Reverend Father in God John Wilkins late Lord-Bishop of Chester to which is added A discourse concerning the beauty of Providence by the same Author Rome a-la-mode or the Sentiments of the Court and Cardinals there concerning Religion and the Gospel as they are delivered by Cardinal Palavicini in his History of the Council of Trent Syncrisis or the most natural and easie method of learning Latine by comparing it with English Together with the holy History of Scripture-war Or the sacred Art Military Illustrated in fourteen Copper-plates with the rude Translation opposite for the exercise of those that begin to make Latin By E. Coles Cocker's Arithmetick the second Impression Cocker's Morals fitted for the use of all Grammar and Writing-schools For the Scholars of the first to turn into Latine and for those of the other to transcribe into all their various and curious Hands Nugae venales or the complaisant Companion being new Jests Domestick and Forrain Bulls Rhodomontado's pleasant Novels and Miscellanies Asteria and Tamberlain or the Distressed Lovers a Novel Madam Wheadle or the fashionable Miss discovered with all her modest Pretences and subtile Stratagems Scaramouch a Philosopher c. Acted at the Theatre Royal A Comedy written by Edward Ravenscroft Gent. A Treatise of the nature of a Minister in all his Offices To which is annexed an Answer to Dr. Forbes concerning the necessity of Bishops to ordain which is an Answer to a Question proposed in these late unhappy times to the Author What is a Minister By William Lucy Lord Bishop of St. Davids
of the Lords mercy that we are not consumed sure many who have offended less have been justly sent to everlasting burnings do now dwell with devouring flames and why should a living man complain it were certainly more rational to be humbled for the evil that occasioned the rod that our present misery may not be the prelude to more lasting torments Nay there is nothing that more offends God that is more contrary to the pattern set before us than to murmur and repine let us therefore study to bear the resemblance of our eldest Brother that our Heavenly Father may acknowledge us for his Children In the next place Christ's obedience to the Will of his Father is set forth as our president and can any thing more powerfully perswade us to obedience than his example which not onely discovers our duty but also inspirits and enables us to perform it If the marvelous pattern of Christ's entire obedience does not form our wills to do what God enjoyns I scarce know any argument that will prove â—ffectual And now how serious was our Lord Christ in dispatching that business his Father intrusted him with The work that his Father gave him to do he finished it Joh. 17.4 and he testifieth of himself That he did always those things that pleased his Father Joh. 8.29 and that he might more emphatically express this he tells us Joh. 4.34 My meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work and indeed in that he so entirely resigned the whole power of his Will to his Father Not my will but thy will be done we have the most unquestionable proof of his perfect obedience He was as the great Apostle tells us Obedient to the death of the Cross submitted to the most dreadful sufferings that he might instruct us to keep his commandments even as he kept his Fathers commandments Joh. 15.10 and that the same mind be in us that was in him But God knows how little we regard either his Precepts or Examples for although our great Master has made his obedience our rule yet how ready are we to despise it if in the least it cross our humors or carnal interest Alas little do we consider that obedience is essentially necessary in order to our supream happiness and that torments as severe and intolerable as they are lasting are the lot of the disobedient It were to be wished that the rebellious posterity of Adam would but seriously ponder what they will be able to say in the great day of Audit Sure I am the whole Contexture and Harmony of the divine Precepts and Doctrines are equitable and just and therefore call for our hearty compliance with them The wise God never issued out any Command which could not be obeyed He is not like the Aegyptian Task-masters to require Brick while there is no Straw Nay indeed our duty and interest are coupled together so closely that if we disobey and rebel we may thank our selves for the misery we have chosen And as his obedience is set before us for imitation so is his Love Charity and Compassion also His whole life was spent in doing good to men how transcendent is his love in pitying us in our degenerate and forlorn estate when we were at odds with Heaven and incapable to help our selves then even then did he commiserate our case and by his own Blood reconciled us to the Father It is the greatest demonstration of love imaginable for a man to lay down his life for his friend Joh. 15.13 and yet more wonderful was the love of our Redeemer in passing through so many cruel sufferings for us who were but Rebels and Enemies O how should the remembrance of his boundless compassions transport and ravish us with love how strange is it that the highest endearments of Love have not inflamed our spirits and made Love mutual and reciprocal Love is a most excellent affection of a noble original by which we resemble the best of beings the great God being by the beloved Disciple described to be Love and indeed well does this description sute with his dealings with men But alas how unlike are we to God in this there is scarce any duty more frequently inculcated by our Saviour than Love John 15.12 This is my commandment that ye love one another as I have loved you and yet how little efficacy has either his precept or example with us Blessed Redeemer how unworthy do impure Earth-worms require thy love thou hast not been wanting to conquer our affections and to inflame our frozen hearts with love to thee and to our Neighbours also Thy life and Death comprehend the most endearing arguments imaginable and yet well maist thou ask us as once thou didst Peter Love you me but God knows there are but a very few who can unfeignedly say as this Disciple did Lord thou knowest that I love thee We can remember all thy sorrows without tears and look upon thy agonies with an unconcerned eye We can view thee in the Garden when grief and pain made thee sweat drops of bloud and behold thee as thou stoodst accused as a Malefactor before Pilate as thou wert contemned scourged and derided by impure worms and most spitefully represented in a fools habit we can ascend Mount Calvary and contemplate thee as enduring the most shameful death of the Cross and hanging betwixt two Thieves and all this time have Adamantine hearts which receive no impression Blessed Redeemer come touch these hearts of ours that they may be overcome with love that our wills and affections may be perfectly moulded according to thy pleasure Sure if we had any sparks of Generosity or common Ingenuity we could not thus despise so much love The very Publicans who were reputed the worst of men yet loved those that loved them And it hath even in the most degenerate times been reckoned the highest baseness to contemn Benefactors yet more brutish are we become than these and may very fitly be ranked in a Category inferior to that of bruits For the Ass as sacred Writ tells us knoweth his masters crib and the Ox his owner Isa 1.3 The very beasts in their own manner express a kinde of love to their Benefactors and yet although our Redeemer hath made our peace by his blood on the Cross and hath reversed that sentence of Damnation passed upon us although he hath endured the greatest dishonour and pain imaginable that we might be delivered from the wrath to come yet this unparallel'd kindness the greatest endearment of love hath not had the kindly effect to quicken our dead and benummed hearts but like a lifeless carcass we remain insensible without the least return of love And indeed it can scarce be well expected that the example of his love to us should engage us to love one another since it hath produced so little love in us to himself But however I need not take much pains to prove that hereby we demonstrate
our selves to be of all men the most ungrate and justly liable to the severest punishment ever inflicted upon the greatest criminal It would be too prolix to enumerate the several instances wherein Christ is set forth as our Pattern sure I am he hath by his example taught us the exercise of all vertues and I may say as himself said in another case If we know these things happy are we if we do them To sum up this Section it will not be amiss to obviate an Objection which is indeed but very trivial although it be too commonly urged the Objection is How is it possible for men to conform to Christ and be holy as he is holy Ans I have already told that it is not expected that we should imitate our blessed Redeemer in all and every of those actions he performed but in all those moral duties which he hath enjoyned by his righteous precepts and encouraged us by his example to perform these we must by no means neglect and to manifest the possibility of doing these we may satisfie our selves by viewing the pious and devout lives of primitive Christians It is a great mistake to think we are commanded to a rigorous and strict conversation which cannot be attained the faithful in former ages have run the same race that is set before us they have fully enough cleared the possibility of our duty Wherefore seeing we also as the Apostle argues are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin that doth so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us Heb. 12.1 For shame let us rather imitate the excellent holiness of primitive Christians than the impure practices of those who are strangers from the sacred Covenant O the perfect love and imitable kindness of the first professors of the Gospel what purity what integrity and innocence appeared in their lives how ravishing and splendent were their vertues and graces their Patience in suffering their Courage and Magnanimity in death their Temperance and Moderation their Charity and Compassion their Equality and Justice and their Contempt of this World and all earthly concerns for the sake and honour of their Master These were the vertues they were adorned with which made the Heathen world who hated the Doctrine they professed yet esteem and reverence them Bonus vir Cajus Sejus nisi Christianus SECT 2. Holiness the condition of future Happiness The desire of Happiness is so natural to all that partake of humane nature that it can no more be separate from it than heat can be from fire 'T is true the mistakes concerning happiness are as numerous as dangerous every one in this corrupt state is apt to frame a happiness which best suits his inclinations but yet there is no man so devoid of reason who doth not desire to be happy although indeed there be but a few who make use of the right means to attain to true felicity Daily experience puts it beyond doubt that a carnal and fictitious felicity is by the unwise sons of men pursued with the most indefatigable pains and industry possible Now how strange to amazement is it to think that men should be so sedulous in hunting after a fancied felicity and yet so negligent so careless and unconcerned about a real happiness which is both satisfying and lasting But not to digress that which I am now to urge is since happiness is that which excites men to perform any thing chearfully in order to the attaining of it how mightily should the expectation of a future felicity induce them to the practice of Holiness for betwixt the two our blessed Saviour has made an inseparable connexion Matth. 5.8 Blessed are the pure in spirit for they shall see God and indeed it is the height of folly and madness for impure wretches to expect they shall be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints of light for as the Apostle tells us There shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth Rev. 21.27 Holiness is the established condition of happiness Heb. 12.14 Without holiness no man shall see God Hence is it that all the promises concerning our future felicity are onely made to those men who purifie themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit and the great design of them is to encourage us to Holiness upon which account St. Paul draws a very pressing inference 2 Cor. 7.1 Having therefore these promises of which he spake in the foregoing Chapter let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God There is nothing more certain than that onely holy souls are in a capacity of participating of that future felicity and these may without the least charge of presumption claim an interest in it But for those vitious wretches who are wholly polluted who have devoted themselves to commit sin with greediness and take pleasure in doing evil how utterly incapable are they if they continue such to dwell in his presence who is not a God that taketh pleasure in wickedness And now seeing there is such an inseparable connexion between Happiness and Holiness it cannot be amiss if we take a short view of the excellency of this coelestial felicity that it may more plainly appear what a notable encouragement and motive it is to holiness There be two things that forcibly recommend the excellency of that future state of bliss First A perfect freedom and immunity from all evils And Secondly a perpetual enjoyment of the chief good First it is a blessedness wholly exempt from evils whether of sense or loss 't is a happiness attended with no inconveniencies nor dismal circumstances as the happiest state here is we now walk in the midst of perplexing doubts and fears temptations increase our inquietudes and dangers our continual fears our complaints are by far more numerous than our joys nay what is our whole life but a scene where sorrow and fears act their parts Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of evil But our future blessedness quite excludes all those evils there is nothing admitted to imbitter that pleasant state Rev. 21.4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away The holy soul shall then no more complain of any dolorous hours the heavenly Jerusalem is a place unacquainted with every thing that is uneasie and troublesome And yet this is but the least part of the Saints felicity for as they shall enjoy a perfect freedom from evil so shall they also be advanced to the fullest fruition of that God where all the streams of goodness do finally empty themselves Blessed are the pure in spirit for they shall see God Matth. 5.8 They shall see him not as now through a Glass
lost his pristine purity and subjugated himself to the cruel tyranny and dominion of sin in this deplorable state being utterly unable to help himself our blessed Lord redeemed us from our captivity by offering up himself a ransom to satisfie divine Justice and all this that we might walk in newness of life And now what ingratitude is it to despise so much love Sure If he that despised Moses law died without mercy of how much sorer punishment shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God and hath counted the Bloud of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing Heb. 10.28 29. He must certainly be of a very base and disingenous spirit who takes pleasure in sin when he considers how dearly Christ paid for it Hath he been at so much pains undergone such dismal sufferings to purchase our peace and will we notwithstanding frustrate his designe how strange to astonishment is this that men should prefer captivity to freedom Alas is it not enough that our blessed Master was so barbarously and despitefully used by the Jews and Roman Souldiers but must we be also Actors in the Tragedy and by our sins crucifie him again Did he not die that we might live and shall we spend our life in offering despite unto him Strange that so much madness should lodg in the breasts of any into whom God hath breathed the breath of life I might here also adde that it is a contemning and offering of the greatest despite to the Holy Spirit to despise Holiness for upon this account is the third person of the blessed Trinity called the Holy Ghost because his peculiar office is to enable us to perform holy actions now if we continue in our rebellion if we reject the offers of grace and the internal motions of the Spirit to Holiness we do hereby become guilty of quenching the Spirit of God and offering despite unto him which is so horrid a piece of villany that Heaven threatens it with the severest torments SECT 5. Holiness the most proper and effectual means for attaining length of days Of all outward and temporal blessings length of days hath justly the precedency since without this all others can afford little or no comfort The possession and enjoyment of other mercies can bestow no satisfaction to men lying on their beds of languishing nay there is no comfort be it never so great but men would willingly quit with to acquire this Now since this is above all things so universally desired it cannot but very much enhance the value of Holiness to demonstrate that there is nothing so proper nor more effectual to procure length of days than this In order to my proving of this I shall first make it plain from Scripture that length of days is due to holy men by vertue of the many true and faithful promises and secondly I shall appeal to common experience to determine the case First there is nothing more evidently asserted in Scripture than that Holiness hath the promise of length of days annexed to it Prov. 3.1 2. My son forget not my law but let thine heart keep my commandments for length of days and long life shall they adde unto thee This encouraging motive is pressed very effectually by Moses in his exhortation to obedience Deut. 4.40 Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes and his commandments which I command thee this day that it may go well with thee and with thy children after thee and that thou maist prolong thy days upon the earth Upon this account we also finde that there are many promises of this nature to obedient Children Exod. 20.12 Honour thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee And as Righteousness tendeth to life as the Wise man observes so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death Prov. 11.19 There is nothing more evident from Scripture than that sin hath a natural tendency to shorten mens lives nay the great God who is serious in his threatnings hath assured us it is so upon which account we may well conclude with the Wise man Prov. 10.27 The years of the wicked shall be shortned The whole tenour of the Scripture abounds with many such promises and threatnings and the thing is so plain that I need not stand to transcribe many texts But besides Scripture this truth is also plainly attested by common experience for if we examine who are the men who for ordinary are most obnoxious to diseases and live shortest we shall finde it true enough that the vitious are the men who live not out half their days Prov. 23.29 30. Who hath woe who hath sorrow who hath wounds without cause they that tarry long at the wine c. Holiness is repugnant and inconsistent with excess which naturally puts a period to the lives of men It forbids all manner of vice which leads down to the chambers of death and keeps men within due bounds in their eating and drinking Before mankind had corrupted themselves by their notorious and impudent vitiousness we read of their great length of days but the increase of sin multiplied diseases which hurry men to untimely deaths I deny not but the great Lord and Master of the Universe may for holy and wise ends known unto himself cut short the lives of the righteous yet surely if we consult either Experience or Reason we shall finde it certain beyond doubt that vertuous men enjoy for ordinary far the longest lives Some good men may be naturally of a brittle constitution yet how strangely has their life been protracted by their moderation and sobriety and how many strong men have had their days shortened by their intemperance and excess Indeed he that considers this well shall finde that Holiness is the most effectual means to promote long life both upon a moral and natural account Upon a moral account long life is the reward which the divine promises do secure to such men and on the contrary wickedness is threatned with shortness of days Upon a natural account the fire doth not more naturally produce heat than Holiness does procure health and length of days and there is nothing more evident than that the most of vices have a physical efficacy in the shortning of humane life That this is the necessary product and genuine effect of intemperance and lasciviousness needs no other argument to prove it but the daily examples of multitudes whom those sins have hurried to their graves And truly there is not any vice which does not like fire in mens bosoms torture and consume them and so disorders and discomposes them that they even neglect the necessary means of their health See Period of Humane life pag. 111 124 Edit 2. SECT 6. Holiness that which makes men honourable vice rendering men mean and ignoble Honour is an ornament so noble and venerable that he is but very sottish if not quite bruitish who doth not
hand And because I know that it is good for me to be thus disciplined by thee I humble my self under thy mightie hand and kiss this thy rod which I trust through thy grace shall make my Soul appear fair and beautiful in thine Eyes Comfort O Lord my fainting Spirit and strengthen my feeble knees and support my weak hands and revive my deaded heart and so powerfully assist me with the Spirit of strength that I may with confidence call upon thee with patience endure this trial with hope expect thy good pleasure with wisdom make use of this thy visitation and with thankfulness ever praise thy goodness and mercy for my safe recovery if it may be with thy sacred will whereunto I submit and wholy resign now and for ever through Jesus Christ my blessed Lord and Saviour in whose most holy words I further pray Our Father c. A Prayer to be said by them that visit the sick O Eternal God who in thy holy word by the Apostle hast promised that the Prayer of faith shall save the sick and thou wilt raise him up and if he have committed sins they shall be forgiven him We come unto thee in the behalf of our diseased and distressed friend visited under thine hand Speak comfortably O Lord unto his Soul seal in his heart by thy holy Spirit the forgiveness of all his sins Have mercie upon him and according to the multitude of thy mercies do away all his offences blot all his sins out of thy remembrance Grant him thy grace to bear willingly this Cross the Cross of sickness to drink heartily of this Cup the Cup of affliction to endure patiently this Yoak the Yoak of tribulation and to suffer meekly this Rod the Rod of correction He hath received good things of thee make him willing to receive evil also as heretofore he rejoyced in his health so teach him now to rejoyce in his sickness and as he was not ashamed to live so let him not be afraid to die because his life is hid with Christ in Heaven Let the sweet feeling and tast of a lively faith distast all the filthy corruptions that are in him and after the example of the good Samaritan after the sharp wine of grievous tribulation instill also the suppling Oil of comfort whereby he may be able to endure those troubles which otherwise would be intolerable unto him Strengthen his memory whereby to call upon thy glorious Name Settle his Spirits that they may not wander and fly out into any unruly motions Lay thy finger upon his lips that they may not fall into cursing or blaspheming thy Deitie or into any vain language Take from his Eyes all delight of this frail world and let his Soul make ready onely for a voiage to Heaven Set thy saving mark upon his Soul and give order to the destroyer that he hurt it not But having fought a good fight let him now triumphantly exult and say O Death where is thy sting O Hell where is thy victory I thank thee O Lord who hast given me victory by Jesus Christ Be merciful unto us here present who as feeling members of one body adore thy holy Name and implore thy Divine help for this thy servant grant him assistance of thy Spirit to the last gasp and us assurance to be heard of thee for him and all others upon the like occasion We could wish that thou shouldst speak to this our friend as thou didst unto thy servant when thou saidst Arise take up thy bed and walk but yet alas we know not whether we ask aright or not thy will be fulfilled we know that he shall but change this life transitory for Eternitie cast off mortalitie and be clothed with immortalitie and this light affliction which is but for a moment shall cause unto him a far more excellent and eternal weight of glory Wherefore make us all wise to salvation and teach us so to number our days aright that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom Give both this thy servant and all of us grace willingly to forsake this present evil world and so to live in thy fear that we may die in thy favour and so reign with thee for ever hereafter Grant this for Jesus Christ his sake our onely Lord and Saviour Amen A Thanksgiving after Sickness O Most merciful Lord God I thy late sick and sorrowful servant do with bended knees and a thankful heart prostrate my self before thee at this time acknowledging that thou hast been a loving Father unto me not onely before I was yet born but ever since I hung upon my Mothers breast Manifest experience have I had of thy manifold mercies many times but never more than in my late and last visitation I offer now unto thee a sacrifice of praise Because I employed not the faculties of my Soul and members of my Body as I should have done thou didst bereave me of the strength and vigor and use of them for a season but now because thy compassions fail not thou hast returned them to me again wherefore I consecrate and devote them perpetually to thy service and as I am in the state of my Body so by the power of thy renewing grace I will become in the estate of my soul a new man My broken heart which thou hast healed shall now entirely love thee my feeble knees and weak bones which thou hast setled shall night and day bow to thee my weak hands which thou hast strengthned shall continually be lifted up unto thee I confess unto thee O Lord that in my health I often read and heard that worldly delights and comforts were vain and much like Flags and Bulrushes which men in danger of drowning catch to bear them up but they sink down under water with them yet did I not learn till I suffered till thy rod had imprinted it even in my flesh Now O Lord I beseech thee to knit my heart unto thee that I may fear thy Name create in me a new heart and renew a right Spirit within me I asked life of thee and thou gavest it me I now desire and crave thy salvation O my God with-hold it not make me to repent of my sins the cause of my sickness and to depend upon thee the giver of all good things and make me in the time of prosperitie to think of adversity in health to think of sickness in sickness to think of death and at all times so to think of judgment that whether I wake or sleep eat or drink or whatsoever I do else I may ever have this sounding in mine ears Arise ye dead and come to judgment Give me grace O Lord to make this use of mine affliction past and to cleave and stick fast unto thee in all holiness for the time to come through my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in whose Name and words I further pray Our Father c. Of DEATH ANd now I cannot think any conclusion more fit and proper