not mine Ears listned unto filthy Communication And my taste delighted it self in Gluttony and Drunkenness 5. Have I been so truly thankful for God's Mercies as I ought to have been 6. Have not I this Week omitted my Prayers Slovered them over or suffered my thoughts to wander in them Lastly Have not I been guilty of some crying Sin that might justly cause God to reject them These Queries proposed and thy Heart O Christian upon Enquiry declaring thee guilty with me say Of these and all my other Sins that I have committed from my youth up unto this present day I most heartily repent me O Lord my God! and I am truly sorry for every thought word and act by which I have provoked thy wrath and indignation against me especially for my disobedience of so holy a Law and extream ingratitude to so bountiful a Lord. O God I do acknowledge my self unworthy the least of thy Mercies and obnoxious to the greatest of thy Judgments but thou hast revealed thy self a God of Pity and Compassion for giving the Iniquities of such as truly repent and acquitting those that voluntarily acquit themselves Wherefore with a penitent and contrite Heart I confess my own guiltiness resolving patiently to bear whatsoever affliction thou laist upon me for my Sins hoping for Pardon through the alone Mercies of our Saviour Christ And now O most gracious and liberal Benefactor with my whole strength and faculties of Soul and Body I praise and magnify thy name for thy great and innumerable benefits proceeding purely from thy bounty and intended wholly for my good Particularly for preserving the this Week in the midst of so many dangers incident to my condition and delivering me from so many Calamities and Miseries due to my Sins Thou art my Creator O my God! and gracious Protector thou art the ultimate end of my being and the supream perfection of my Nature and under the shadow of thy Wings is my perpetual repose from the Light of thy Countenance flows Eternal Joy and Felicity To Thee be Glory and Honour Adoration and Praise from all Creatures now and for evermore Amen And since thou hast ordained us the day to labour in and the night to take our rest as I praise thee for the blessings of the day past so I beseech thee for thy Protection this Night Let the Eye of thy Providence watch over me and thy holy Angels pitch their Tent about me that being safely delivered from all dangers and comfortably refreshed with moderate sleep I may be the better enabled to perform the employment of my condition and faithfully persevere in the duties of thy Service to my Lifes end Amen Beware of sitting up late your self on the Saturday Night or of causing others to do so Lest when you go into the House of God to join with the multitude in Prayer you are fitter to sleep than pray differing little from the dead Bodies asleep in their Graves The one sleeps above the Earth the other underneath it And when you are laid in your Bed let not your mind run on Worldly thoughts but think of the infinite Majesty of God that you are then to meet think of the great weight and importance of the holy Ordinances then vouchsafed you how they concern thy Salvation or Damnation thy Everlasting Life or Death Meditate on the short time thou hast to enjoy the Sabbath in how near thy Life is to an end how easily God can take down this Earthly Tabernacle how there is no working no labour no striving in the other World to which thou art going and continue thus musing till the fire of Meditation begin to burn If thou thus leavest thy Heart with God on Saturday Night no doubt but you will find it with him the next Morning CHAP. II. Of Awaking with God AS soon as sleep hath unseal'd thine Eyes lift up thy Soul in Thanksgiving to thy Maker for preserving thee that night and affording thee a good beginning of a new day especially a Sabbath day to labour for his Glory and the good of thine own Soul And that you may be incited to perform this Act of praise consider these several motives 1. That perhaps many others not so sinful as thy self have been hurried from their Beds to the Bar of Judgment from a Bed of Down they have been cast into a Bed of Flames yet God in his infinite Mercy hath spared you until now to Repent and prepare your Accounts 2. Consider that many others are visited by God Almighty with Sickness so that they cannot serve God in the Publick Assemblies while you enjoy your health and free liberty to go with the multitude into his Courts 3. Consider that you are now brought to the beginning of another day which when past you shall never see again Thou maist possibly see more Sabbath Days but that space of time when the Sun is once set thou shalt never see again any more How careful then should'st thou be to improve this Day so that it may turn to the best account Solomon sends Man to School to the Ant to learn this good Husbandry Prov. 6.6 7 8. Oh that we were as wise for the Bread of Life that came down from Heaven as the poor Pismire for Bread that springs out of the Earth The Sabbath is an Harvest and he that sleeps away his time in Harvest is a Son that causeth shame The Seaman or Mariner observes his Wind and Tide otherwise he cannot get to his intended Harbour but Seasons of Grace are not like the Tides of which if you miss one you may get another How careful then shouldst thou be to improve every Minute Our Saviour Christ said to his Disciples concerning the Loaves and Fishes Gather up the Fragments that nothing be lost The like advice I give you concerning the Lord's Day Gather up the Parcels thereof Let no part of it be lost no not the least Minutes which are pretious to this end Spiritualize all the objects you meet with in the Day as thus When first awake think that God Almighty can as easily awaken you out of your Graves from the sleep of Death as he hath in your Beds from the sleep of Nature Let the rising out of your Beds put you in mind of the Resurrection And when you see the Sun Let your Meditation be That if the rising of one Sun be so glorious how glorious will that day be when so many thousands of Bodies far brighter than the Sun shall appear to accompany Christ at the great Assizes Consider that this great Star must run in one Day ten or twelve Millions of Leagues and shall you make no progress in Virtue Consider that unwearied Harbinger is gone to take you up a Lodging in the Grave each Minute is so much deducted from your Life Follow therefore the Counsel of the Son of God Work while it is Day for the Night cometh when no Man can work Let not then this Light burn in vain but
may learn to redeem time and number all our days our Sabbaths more especially that so we may apply our hearts unto Wisdom that we may now get wise religious believing and Repenting Hearts O Lord give us Grace to consecrate this day as a day of delight holy and honourable to thee not doing our own Works nor following our own Pleasures nor speaking our own words but exercising our selves in duties of Piety and Mercy publickly and privately in thy House and in our own So that we may make this Season a day not only of reconciliation for the Sins of the Week past but also a day of Preparation and spiritual Provision furnishing our selves for the better performance of the duties of the Week to come And now O Heavenly Father we are going to thy House to partake of thy Ordinances we beseech thee to go with us thither and stand by us there and bring us back again rejoicing when we shall find our Faith encreased our Hope quickned our Zeal kindled our Hearts inflamed with the Love of thee and our Brethren Let us not we beseech thee make thy House which is an House of Prayer and Spiritual Exercises to be a Den of Thieves but let us look to our Feet that so we may be more ready to hear than to offer up the Sacrifice of Fools It is a fearful thing when this word which should he a Savour of Life unto Life does prove a Savour of Death unto Death as it does to many who regard not what they hear Grant therefore O Lord that we may take diligent heed what we hear and how we hear keep us we humbly pray thee that we be not like unto them that be compared unto the high way who do not so much as bend their minds to regard what is taught nor to them who are compared to the stony ground who do it but shallowly and superficially nor to them that be compared to the thorny ground that do choak and smother it with minding their ease pleasure gain and profit over much But give us Grace to be like the good ground who coming to the word with honest and good hearts bring forth good Fruit with Patience and in good Season So that keeping this day as we ought to do we may be translated to keep an Everlasting Sabbath in the highest Heaven Amen CHAP. V. Of the great obligation that lies upon every one of us to worship God in Publick NEglect not publick Ordinances upon pretence of serving God in private that God Almighty gives his Blessing both to private and Family-Duties is most certain but to put God off with these and neglect publick Worship is to rob him of a greater summ and pay him with a less It is worth our Observation that the Sabbath and publick Worship of God are by him joined together therefore let no Man put them asunder Ye shall keep my Sabbath and reverence my Sanctuary I am the Lord your God They then that despise God's Sanctuary cannot observe God's Sabbath Do but consider David's Tears for the want and his Prayers for the fruition of Publick Ordinances even then when he had opportunity for private Performances and surely then thou wilt esteem the Ministry of the word no mean mercy See his sorrow for the want of them I was driven saith he from the Sanctuary when I did but think of it my Soul was poured out like water for I had gone with the multitude I went with them to the House of God Psal 42.3 My Soul was poured out that is was over-whelm'd with grief and even ready to dye when I compare my present condition with my former happiness in the fruition of religious Assemblies How bitterly and passionately doth he plead with Saul If the Lord hath stirred thee up against me let him accept an Offering but if men Cursed be they before the Lord for they have driven me out this day from the inheritance of the Lord. 1 Sam. 16.19 How pathetically does he bemoan his own Soul Woe is me for I dwell in Meseck and have my habitation in the Tents of Kedar The loss of his Father Mother Wives Children Lands Liberty nay life it self would not have gone so near his Heart as the loss of the publick Ordinances As his sorrow was great for the want so was his Soul most earnest for the fruition of them How many Prayers does he put up for the liberty of the Tabernacle Psal 43.3 4. and Psal 27.4 One thing have I desired of the Lord which I will seek after viz. That I might dwell in the Tabernacle of the Lord and visit his holy Temple And Verse 8. When thou saidst seek my face my heart said unto thee thy face Lord will I seek David at this time was banished the Temple and he among other reasons useth this argument to restore him to his happiness as if he had said O God thou hast commanded me to worship thee in the Temple To appear before thee is my delight my heart desires to seek and see thy face there Thus he prays to God for the performance on his side that he might be enabled to obey God's Precept Peter and John went up to the Temple at the hour of Prayer Acts 3.1 and St. Paul reasoned in the Synagogue every Sabbath day Acts 13.14 those that by their practices contemn publick worship have neither Christ nor the Apostles for their Pattern One of the Jewish Rabbies hath a saying he that dwells in a City where there is a Synagogue and cometh not to Prayers merito dicitur vicinus malus if thou forsakest the Assembly of God how useful thou maist be to others Bodies I know not but I am sure thou art neither to thine own Soul or theirs in neglecting God's service Consider the condition of Primitive Christians who were forced to serve the Lord with fear and attend his Ordinances with trembling who built Churches under ground rather than they would want the opportunity of serving God in Publick Consider also how David bemoan'd himself counting Swallows and Sparrows in this much better than he because they could build their Nests in the Temple while he was banished from it Psa 84.1 2 3. How amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord My Soul longeth yea even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord my heart and my flesh cryeth out for the living God Yea the Sparrow hath found an House and the Swallow a Nest for her self where she may lay her young even thine Altars O Lord of Hosts my King and my God Did David being abridged thereof thus bemoan himself Surely then we should count it a great Mercy that we have Publick Churches and Oratories to go unto without any lett or molestation that we have no Tyrants no Foreign Enemies no Rods no Axes no noise of War to affright us from God's publick Ordinances what cause of rejoicing is here But yet if this liberty of ours make us wanton and the plenty God gives us tempts us to
keep me from all danger as well of Body as of Soul to the end I may rise again in Health to praise thy glorious Name and joyfully to serve thee with a clean Body and chaste Heart Whilst thou art going to bed exercise thy Mind with these holy and heavenly Meditations As thou art pulling off thy clothes think how it will not be long before thou be stripped of all and go out of the World as naked as thou camest as Job excellently expresseth it Naked came I c. And when thou art laid upon thy bed to take thy Repose let it mind thee of thy Grave thy Sheets of thy Shroud and thy Sleep of thy Death which indeed is the shadow of it and labour to fall asleep with the sweet Meditation of it and to that end while thou art awake exercise thy Mind with these or such like Meditations Beg of Christ That you might imitate him in his Death which you may do in these short Prayers 1. Jesus died patiently O my Soul how ill have we imitated our sweet Saviour in our Life and Manners let us at least strive to imitate him in his Death by taking patiently whatsoever Cross and Affliction he shall lay upon us following chearfully to Mount Calvary O my Saviour though my Soul be not forced out of my Body by such a violent Death as thine yet imprint I beseech thee in my Soul such sweet Thoughts and Affections as thou didst feel when thou didst die for my sake 2. Jesus dyed willingly O my God give me health or sickness life or death give me what thou pleasest not my will but thy will be done O my Saviour thou being God's innocent Son dyedst in the flower of thine Age and shall I desire long Life who am a Sinner a Rebel a Criminal I yield Lord I yield and submit to Death's Summons Farewel Earth farewel World farewel this Vale of tears and miseries Heaven is my happier home Paradise is much more pleasant and agreeable and Death is my way to it 3. Jesus prayed for strength and courage in the agony of death O my Jesu when my Glass shall be almost run out when my Senses fail me when my Strength decays and my Breath almost spent O do not thou forsake me Dear Jesu when all things else shall leave and abandon me Thou art graciously pleased Compassionate Creator to take pity on the Fowls of the air and the Beasts of the Earth and to succour them in time of nâ—â—d O refuse not thy favours to a Soul stampt with thy Sacred Image and resemblance but pity me succour me comfort me and protect me from the hands of the Enemy 4. Jesus dying pardoned his Enemies and pray'd for them O my sweet Saviour in honour of this thy fervent Charity I pray forgive all them that have offended me in my whole Life time it now heartily grieves me that ever I hated them and were they here present how humbly would I embrace them and beg their Pardon Give them O my God thy Grace in this World and thy Glory in the next Thus have I finished my imperfect Piece And O my God as I began it by thy Goodness so I end it with thy praise Let not the weakness and simplicity of the Agent be the Readers discouragement but O my Heavenly Father give me thy Grace to live up to these Rules lest whilst I preach and write to others I my self become a Cast-away FINIS Advertisement BRief Directions for our more devout Behaviour in Time of Divine Service With a Short Rationale on the Common-Prayer By the same Author
of this Soliloquy O my Soul Let Vzza's Death make thee careful how thou enters irreverently into God's House If we be so careful to come with clean Apparel before an Earthly Prince much more should we with clean Hearts and Souls approach our Heavenly King A Prince may not regard how his Servants go in his Kitchen but when they come into his Presence-Chamber he expects they should look to their Carriage and Words God indeed O my Soul expects more honour in our religious acts than in the ordinary actions of our Lives for in the first we directly design his honour and service and if we do not perform them seriously the greater is our Sin Think then O my Soul how choice God was in the Law about all things relating to his Worship the Tabernacle and Temple must be of the best Wood the purest Gold and the finest Linnen The Persons must be without blemish Lev. 2.17 the Sacrifice must be perfect without spot the best of the Flock the best of the Beasts the fat that covereth the inwards And what O my Soul dost thou think was the substance of these shadows but this that God will be served by holy Men in the purest and holiest manner and that we must be exact both as to our Persons and Performances Great Persons are impatient of contempt and affronts especially when offered to them in their own Houses God will sooner overlook thy forgetfulness of him in thy Trade or Travels than in the Tabernacle When thou drawest nigh to him he will be Sanctified either by thee or upon thee if thou refusest to give him glory in thy Service believe me he will get himself Glory by thy Sufferings His worship is his Presence his Face and look for his Fury if thou darest him to his Face The Waters of the Sanctuary are like the Waters given to a suspected Wife if Innocent they witness her Honesty and made her Fruitful though Barren before But if guilty they caused the Belly to swell and the thighs to rot If thou makest Godliness thy business in the Ordinances of God it will make thee fruitful if barren of good Works but if thou beest formal and perfunctory and goest thy round in religious Duties never minding the true end of them nor thy Carriage in them thy Prayer will be an abomination the word a savour of Death unto Death and the Sacrament a Seal of thy Damnation When thou comest at the Church-Door say Surely the Lord is in this place how dreadful is this place It is no other but the House of God the Gate of Heaven When you enter into the Church O my Soul where ever thou art thou art under God's Eye and therefore shouldest thou be no where prophane but now thou art in his Church thou art in his immediate Presence How holy oughtest thou to be How devout thy Behaviour We read Exod. 25.37 Moses was commanded to light up seven Lamps in his Tabernacle the place of his publick worship and why seven Lamps What was the substance of these shadows in short this that nothing shall escape his notice He seeth what uprightness and seriousness there is in thy Prayers and performances whether thou art Praying Reading Hearing or Singing and after what manner thou dost them whether slothfully or diligently His Eye is always upon thee and his Eye-lids try thy actions to reward or punish them When you view the Baptisterion or Font. Give hearty thanks unto God for your Christendom that by Holy-Baptism he hath called you to a state of Grace and Salvation through Jesus Christ and humbly beseech him that you may continue in the same to your Lives end For if you Apostatize you are guilty of an horrid Sin and must answer for it at the great and terrible day of Judgment It was a custom in the primitive times that such as were Baptized did wear a white Stole a Ceremony to signify the purity of Life the Baptized was to lead Eliodophorus after his Baptism turning a Persecutor of the Church Marilla the Minister that Baptized him in an holy indignation brought forth in publick the white Stole saying This do I keep against thy coming to Judgment to testify thy Apostasy from Christ So be thou assured O Christian that the Water with which the Minister by whom the people before whom thou wert Baptized shall rise up against thee in Judgment if thou dost not walk in newness of Life When you behold the Eleemosynary or Poor's Box. How much am I bound to the good Providence of my Heavenly Father who hath raised my condition in this World to be in the number of those that abound not of them that want since 't is more blessed to give than to receive When you view the Communion-Table say What shall I render unto the Lord for all the benefits I have received at his hands I will take the Cup of Salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord. When you view the Pulpit Remember how many good Lessons you have received thence the which not being carefully practised will rise up in judgment against you in the great Day of your Tryal resolve therefore for the future to be a doer of the word not hearer only deceiving your own Soul When you view the Church-Bible upon the Desk Remember that this is the Book of Life the sacred Code the Divine Volume the infallible Oracle of Heaven and that you are obliged to consult it with all manner of Devotion and to inform your selves thence what is the will and pleasure of the great Ruler of the World When you have meditated a while on these objects fall down on your Knees in your Pew and offer up this or such like Prayers O Lord my God! There is no mortal Man worthy to stand at thy Door much less to appear in thy Presence yet how oft have I presumed to approach to thee without that preparedness of heart without that dejection of Soul without that true and holy reverence which becometh thy Child Pardon O Lord I beseech thee pardon my irreverence in so sacred a place and distractions in my Prayers and give me grace to demean my self so reverently and zealously now I am in thy House and Service that my Prayers may come up before thee as incense and the lifting up my hands as a Morning Sacrifice Grant this for Jesus Christ's sake Amen Or OPen my Mouth my Lord and Maker to bless and praise thy Divine Majesty Cleanse my heart from all curious noxious and destructive thoughts enlighten my understanding to know thee my will to obey thee settle my attention excite my Devotion to praise thee That I may worthily reverently religiously perform this Morning-Sacrifice of Prayer through the virtue of those most pure and perfect Praises which thou O Jesu my Redeemer offeredst up on Earth to thy Eternal Father Mine may be now acceptable in thy sight Amen CHAP. VIII Of our behaviour at Church when the Minister is come unto it
AS soon as the Minister begins the publick Worship lay aside all your other Meditations and Prayers and apply your mind to attend diligently and to join devoutly in every part and passage of Divine Service considering it is the great end of your coming to Church and your business there is to serve the Lord with your Christian Brethren in publick 1. Therefore when the Minister exhorts you out of the Word of God to confess and acknowledge your Sins and Wickedness harden not your heart but with all possible humility both of Body and Soul say after the Minister in the Confession of your Sins and endeavour to let your Heart even melt and bleed in the bewailing your Offences and to this and every act of Divine Worship neglect not to say Amen For that is as it were the Seal to confirm to your Soul the benefits thereof The Hebrews have a saying that whosoever says Amen with all his might opens the Doors of Paradise 2. After Confession when the Minister comes to the words of Absolution bow down your Head and say softly in your Heart Lord let this Pardon pronounced by thy Minister be effectual to my Soul and Seal thereunto the Forgiveness of all my Sins 3. The Psalms and Hymns are to be answered Verse by Verse with the Minister that so all may join and bear a part in the Service of God for in his Temple do every Man speak of his Honour and here though you cannot read yet your Heart may join with them that do read and your Mouth also may shew forth the praise of God by saying after every Psalm Glory be to the Father adding always Amen to shew and express how affectionately you desire the Glory of God Be not silent nor ashamed publickly and audibly to make Confession of your holy Christian Faith when you are thereunto called by the Minister for this is a duty you owe both to God and Man It is an act of God's Worship and a Declaration that you hold the same Faith with all true Christians and therefore it is required of you not only with the Heart to believe unto Righteousness but with the mouth also that Confession be made unto Salvation And when the Confession of Faith is publickly pronounced do not sit and loll as if you were not concern'd at it but stand up with the rest of the Congregation to signifie and declare that you will stand to this Faith and earnestly contend for it as being the same which was once given to or by the Saints the holy Apostles I have read that it is a Custom in Poland that the Gentlemen draw their Swords all the while the Creed is a reading intimating thereby that they will defend it with their Lives and Blood Be you Christians as ready to assert and maintain your holy Faith and resolve to attest it with your dearest Blood if there be occasion If any Child be brought to Church to be Baptized sit not still as if not concerned in that Office but let it remind you of your own Vow and put up this short Prayer in behalf of the Infant Grant that all those that are to be admitted to the Fellowship of Christ's Religion and to this Infant more especially may eschew those things that are evil and follow after that which is good When any Woman comes to be Churched reflect on the Mercies that thou receivest from God to make thee thankful and with a low Voice put up this Prayer to God O Lord as thou hast delivered this Woman thy Servant from the pains of a temporal so I beseech thee to deliver both her and all here present from the pangs of an Eternal Death When you see any come to be Catechised make not light of it but after this or the like manner pray O Almighty and Everlasting God! who ever makest thy Church fruitful with a new a numerous Issue increase Faith and Vnderstanding in our newly instructed that they being born again may be joined unto the Sons of thy adoption through our Lord Jesus Christ When you hear the Banes of Matrimony published in the Church fall not into Laughter as the manner of some is for it ill becomes the Sacredness of the place and argues out irreverence to God We should show our selves better Christians by falling down on our Knees and praying at the same time for a Blessing from God on them O let us then reflect on our own Vow and Promise in Marriage how we have performed it and let us make it also an occasion of a fresh Engagement in our selves to keep it most strictly I am not of the opinion of the Papists that Marriage is a Sacrament but I look upon it as a most solemn engagement among Men and Sacred being a Vow made before God and witnessed by many and therefore a subject proper for seriousness and devotion When you sing unto God let your heart make melody Take heed that when your Voice is high your Heart be not dead flat and low 1. When the Word is read and preached mind it and say this is the Word of God 't is his Command and dare I disobey it O that my ways were made so direct that I might keep God's Statutes 2. When you hear the Curses denounced against Sinners tremble if thou beest guilty of any of the Sins 3. When you hear God's Calls and Invitations his rich Promises and Allurements say What shall I refuse them Doth God knock at them and shall not the Everlasting Doors of my Heart fly open that the King of Glory may enter in Lastly While the Minister is pronouncing the Blessing post not away a fault too common every where but hope desire and believe it shall come down upon you Remember the punishment of Judas he stayed not for the Blessing but went away and dispatched himself That you may not forfeit God's Protection and be given over by the Almighty as he was I pray stay till the Blessing be pronounced and after it is ended fall down on your Knees and offer up this short Ejaculation O Sweet Jesu bestow on me this day thy Blessing with this of the Minister preserve me from all Sin and give me perseverance in thy Service that at the last and dreadful day of Judgment I may receive that happy Benediction among thy Elected and Predestinated Children Come ye Blessed Children of my Father and inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the World CHAP. IX Of our due behaviour between Morning and Evening Service At your returning home LET your return with your Family home be with the same gravity and care as was thy passage to the Church Let your talk be rather of what you have learnt or heard than of any Worldly matters except necessary occasions enforce the contrary If any of your Neighbours talk Heavenly mind them but if their Discourse savour of the World either reprove or leave them This I mention because I perceive it the custom of