is that by the help of these mean and trifling ways so much time is gone The Fool 's Fingers are eas'd of it which will be so far from being a comfort to him that when Sickness and Death shall come it will be excessive Bitterness to consider how well so many Hours might have been employed by working out his Salvation in the Church and in the Closet To conclude all The design of this whole Discourse is to shew how much it is our Duty our Interest and our Wisdom to make a good use of our Time and what Course is proper for us to take that it may turn to very good account to our Present and Future advantage And would God we would be perswaded to consider seriously what an Important thing this is the main business indeed we should be mindful of in this Life because it is the Measure of our Lives and when Death comes 't will be equally as impossible to recal the One as it will be again to live over the Other We use to call Time the most Precious thing in the World and use to Think it such when Matters of great Consequence require quich dispatch in that case a Day an Hour a Minute is thought too valuable to be neglected lest the Loss though but of one Moment should at once defeat the Hopes and spoil all the Labours of an whole Year So that the Improvidence of many People is astonishing and unaccountable that when their very Souls lie at stake and Hell and Damnation is before them they should then only be most careless of their Time though the Case be of the Greatest Concernment and the Hazards they run be the most Fatal and the Loss that follows will most certainly be utterly Irreparable to all Eternity But the truth is Time is One of those Many Blessings which Men never so Prize as when they Want them The Sad Reflexions of a Death-Bed the Weeping Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth beyond it do plainly argue that nothing can be more Worth recalling than Time and nothing more Worth our husbanding than the Present time because when once gone it is Never to be recall'd That there may be no room for such Late Sorrows I have laid before you the most necessary and most profitable Rules I can think of how you may employ that time which is now in your Hands and in a Moral sense redeem too what is slipt Away as by Industrious Resolutions by an active and vigorous Repentance by an operative and universal Charity by caution and watchfulness every remaining day of your Life and more especially by devoting all the time you can to the Service and Worship of God which of the several Particulars hath taken up the greatest share of my Meditations because it is the Employment of Heaven it self and that which justly claimeth all possible Portions of our time here By the diligent performance of these things we may so redeem our Time as to make a great deal of a few Days and do that in one Third of one's Life which some hardly do in their whole Age though it be a long one and then is a Man's Life to good purpose For 't is not how long but how well a Man lives which God considers nor is it his Years but his Works that will be regarded in God's Day In short He that exerts all the Faculties and Powers of his Soul in a Course of Virtue and to the utmost of his Abilities endeavoues to rectifie what hath been amiss He that doth all the Good he can in his Generation and spends not a Day without setting forward in some measure his own and other Men's Salvation He that gives himself to God's Service and continually makes an Oblation of his Heart and Incense of his Prayers He it is that Redeems his Time indeed so that be it longer or shorter as God shall see it best for him however he Began he shall Einish his Course well And as Eliphas said Job 5. 26. He shall come to his Grave in a full Age like as a Shock of Corn cometh in in his season Morning Prayers O Lord teach us so to number our Days that we may apply our Hearts unto Wisdom Amen O Lord save us thy Servants who put our whole Trust in Thee Send us Help from thy Holy Place and evermore mightily defend us Let the Enemy have no Advantage of us nor the Wicked approach to us But be unto us a Strong Tower from the Face of all our Enemies Amen O Lord our Heavenly Father Almighty and Everlasting God who hast safely brought us to the Beginning of this Day defend us in the same with thy mighty Power and grant that this Day we fall into no Sin neither run into any kind of Danger but that all our Doings may be ordered by thy Governance to do always that is righteous in thy Sight through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen O God who knowest us to be set in the midst of so many and great Dangers that by reason of the Frailty of our Nature we cannot always stand upright grant to us such Strength and Protection as may support us in all Dangers and carry us through all Temptations through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen ALmighty God who seest that we have no Power of our selves to help our selves keep us both outwardly in our Bodies and inwardly in our Souls that we may be defended from all Adversities which may happen to the Body and from all Evil Thoughts which may assault and hurt the Soul through Cstrist our Lord. Amen ALmighty God who hast given thine only Son to be unto us both a Sacrifice for Sin and also an Ensample of Godly Life Give us Grace that we may always most thankfully receive that his inestimable Benefit and also daily endeavour our selves to follow the blessed Steps of his most Holy Life through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen O Almighty God who alone canst order the Unruly Wills and Affections of sinful Men Grant unto thy People that they may love the things which thou commandest and desire that which thou dost promise that so among the sundry and manifold Changes of the World our Hearts may surely there be fixt where True Joys are to be found through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen O God the Protector of all them that trust in thee without whom nothing is strong nothing is holy increase and multiply upon us thy Mercy that Thou being our Ruler and Guide we may so pass through things Tenporal that we finally lose not the things Eternal Grant this O Heavenly Father for Jesus Christ's sake our Lord. Amen LOrd of all Power and Might who art the Author and Giver of all Good Things graft in our Hearts the Love of thy Name increase in us True Religion nourish us with all Goodness and of thy great Mercy keep us in the same through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen UNto thy Gracious Mercy and Protection O God we commit our selves The Lord
which there is no sort of necessity for them to wast other ways but to take off that time which hangs upon their fingers And yet to Redeem time the greatest remainder of it should be bestow'd upon doing of Good There is one place of Scripcure that directs us to break off our Sins by Righteousness and our Iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor Dan 4. 27. meaning that men should make reparation for what is past by doing eminent acts of Justice and Charity for the time to come There is another place that tells us He which converteth a Sinner from the errour of his way shall save a Soul from death and shall bide a multitude of sins Jerm 5. 20. And there is a third place that saith of Charity in general that it shall cover a multitude of Sins 1 Pet. 4. 8. Now though none of these Texts mean that the doing of Good Justifies a man or Necessitates his pardon by any natural Causality Efficiency or virtúe of the work done for that would be injurious to the doctrine of Gods free grace and to our Saviours Merits and satisfaction yet thus much they all imply that for Christ's sake God is pleased of his own great goodness to impute to us our good and charitable performances and to accept them as the Condition and means of that pardon which he freely gives unto all who bring forth fruits meet for Repentance This shews That to do all the Good we can is the ready way to redeem our Time effectually Which yet is to be understood of increasing our Diligence in doing what good we are able so as to delight in it and to make it the constant and urgent Business of that part of our Life which is left us There is no recovering of our lost Time without doubling at least our Labour and Industry For Charity is a standing Law of Christ the great Rule we should have all gone by as soon as we were past the things of Children At Twelve Years of Age the Lord Jesus was found sitting in the midst of the Doctors not so much to hear as to instruct them It was his Father's Business the necessary Work of doing Good he was then about Which noble Example of Charity teacheth all Mankind to begin betimes to do good Offices and it upbraids us all with our Neglects in losing so many fair Opportunities we have had from our Youth Therefore we should remember our great Omissions when we go about the Redeeming of our Time because those we are to make compensation for And considering this cannot be done by that ordinary Zeal and Industry which must have been express'd had we been useful in our Generation from the beginning it must needs be incumbent upon us to labour the more abundantly to make up those Defects for which in Conscience we are answerable For in this case we are to consider what is our standing Duty still and what we are behind hand in and to fill up the measure of our Good Works we should do as much in one Day as might have taken up two had we acted regularly all along For unless our Diligence be doubled however we may be supposed after our Repentance to spend our Time well we cannot be said to redeem it because a great part of it is yet in Arrear I observed before that St. Paul compares our Christian Progress to a Race and that single Comparison will be enough to illustrate this matter If the Combatants do not start together or though they do if all keep not on with equal Paces Time and Ground will soon be lost tho' none of them come as yet to stretching and straining for the Victory The Sluggard that loyters away his Minutes the Trifler that is willing to be diverted by impertinent Excursions and the unwary Wretch that strumble and falls by not looking to his Steps These ill Husbands of their Time who might have finished their Course laudably by constant treatable and moderate striving having fallen much short of the rest by their own Tardiness are now under a great Necessity of exerting their utmost Strength and Vigour to recover their Minutes what they can nor have they any other way left them but to signalize themselves by extraordinary Pressings on and by trying all their Abilities and Breath to the laft Why thus it is in our Christian Course in the Race that leadeth to Eternal Life or Death Some from the beginning run the way of God's Commandments with Patience and Alacrity and a constant Zeal And happy are they who remember their Creator from the Days of their Youth but these comparatively are but few Others neglect the business of their Salvation minding and loving the World only as if they were to stay in it for ever Others fly out into Extravagancies and Vanities as the Devil or the Flesh tempts them out of their way Others fall into Apostacy from Truth and Religion and of all these there is none that doth solid Good nor is likely to come to Good till either the Sense of God's Goodness leads them or the Fear of his Wrath and Justice drives them to Repentance Considering therefore what Time they have lost and how nearly it concerns them to Redeem it their only Course is To gird up their Loins with Resolution to set about it with Vigour to use their utmost Diligence to labour the more industriously to abound in all manner of Good Works and being converted themselves to apply all possible means to strengthen their Brethren as our Saviour told Peter in reference to the future Recovering himself from his Apostacy Luke 22. 32. And here People should consider well what sorts there are of Good Works that they may be the better able to Redeem their Time by doing Good indeed As to Inform and Teach the Ignorant and put them in often remembrance of their Duty in all things to admonish such as do amiss to be great Examples of Godliness Righteousness and Sobriety and by all Christian Arts to promote the True Power and the universal Practice of Religion to restore the Good Name that was unjustly taken away to make ample Reparation for all Violence and Fraud and to do this readily and heartily with the exemplary Zeal of Zachaeus restoring Fourfold even for False Accusations To rid ones Hands of Mammon gotten by Unrighteousness and to make Satisfaction for Wrongs and Injuries to forgive an Enemy to vindicate the Innocent to relieve the Oppressed to help those who are in Streights and Necessity to comfort the Afflicted to visit the Fatherless and Widow in their Distress to be Eyes to the Blind and Feet to the Lame to Feed the Hungry and Cloath the Naked and Assist the Sick to Pray for all and to reach out a kind Hand to all occording as their Wants and according as our Abilities and Opportunities are This is to Do Good And for the Redeeming of Time well it is necessary for those who have been slack or forgetful of
comes there is a crookedness within which is far worse then that in the Bones and 't is to be fear'd that a Death bed Repentance is seldom genuine and sincere after a long Life of Impiety Sometimes it happens that instead of Repenting People are ready to despair believing that after so much Time quite mis-spent the poor remainder is too little and too late for the beginning of a great Work when ones course is now finishing The thought of this is like an heavy Misfortune which a Man knows not how to bear up against His Heart sinks under the pressure and he gives over all Endeavors because he thinks no Labor or Means will be to purpose especially when Attempts have been altogether ineffectual and fruitless This is a sad consequence of the loss of Time when it thus terminates in Horror and Dampness And yet though the thing be evil the case is not uncommon and considering the Danger that is so visible before all negligent People one would think the very fear of what may be should stir them up to make provision against Futurity by well husbanding the Present We may be sure the Remembrance of so much Time Lost must needs be very uncomfortable in that day when Mens Consciences are wont to speak home and plain Suppose ones Heart be truly Penitent it cannot but afford him a very melancholy Prospect to look back upon his former Life and to see what a long Course he has run to sad purpose How many fair Opportunities of doing good have been baulk'd how little Religion hath been minded tho' it be the great thing for which we were all brought into the World How many Motions of Gods Holy Spirit have been resisted How many Mercies have been abused How often private Affairs have been preferred to the Divine Service How many hours have been trifled away which should have been imployed at Gods House How many Sins have been acted when the Works of Salvation should and might have been look'd after in short how Vice and Vanity and Idleness have divided that Time which God had a right to and which the Soul might have fared happily by had it not been in a wicked Mans keeping Intemperance Lust Pride Quarreling studying how to defraud and to do Mischief robbeth away a great part of some Mens Lives and worldly Interest is the common Thief till improvident Wretches see their Graves ready to open to receive at last so many publick Nusances and so many Burdens upon the Earth These must needs be very melancholy Considerations to those whose Eyes Death is a closing especially if their Consciences are yet awake And therefore People should be wise in time because it is impossible for any of us to know what the issues of a Death bed will be or what our Condition will prove then The Time past of our Life may suffice us to have wrought the Will of the Gentiles saith St. Peter 1 Pet. 4. 3. And thus every one of us should conclude the time past of our Life may suffice us to have followed the Works of the Flesh and the Vanities of the World God knows there are few who have not lost too much of this kind already and if instead of Recovering Men go on still to multiply their Losses 't will be a sad Account they must come to at last when they shall cast up their Dammages and their Acquests and shall be made to consider what a long Season they have fool'd away and gotten nothing by it in the end but a wounded Conscience and a most terrible Prospect CHAP. III. How irreparable this Loss will be in another Life THough this alone be a great Consideration yet in comparison of what follows it is little to be valued For whatever our Losses are now as long as we have some time yet left us we may make our selves some sort of Reparation But a Time is coming which we should always provide against the great cause of our trifling away so many precious hours is because we do not think so much and so often as we should of that Time when notwithstanding the intimate Affection that is now between them the Soul must be divorced from the Body and live in a separate State till the general Judgment-day The Dust shall return to the Earth as it was and the Spirit shall return to God who gave it Eccles 12. 7. It shall return unto God to receive its Sentence for the Works done in the Body and according as those Works have been whether good or evil so will its State be assigned it either of Happiness or Misery And whatever that State be it will be utterly unchangeable There can be no Reviving till the Resurrection no returning upon the Earth any more no living over our Lives again to rectifie any one Miscarriage no recalling a Minute to drop a Tear or to cry for Pardon There is saith Job some bope of a Tree if it be cut down that it will sprout again and that the tender branch thereof will not cease though the root thereof wax old in the Earth and the Stock thereof dye in the Ground yet through the scent of Water it will bud and bring forth boughs like a Plant. But a Man dieth and wasteth away yea Man giveth up the Ghost and where is he As the Waters fail from the Sea and the Flood decayeth and dryeth up so Man lieth down and riseth not till the Heavens be no more They shall not awake nor be raised out of their sleep Job 14. This Consideration then is the second Motive to quicken us all to Redeem our Time because the loss of it at the end of this Life will be irreparable seeing it is impossible for us to come out of our Graves again to order Time better then we are suppos'd to have done We are deeply concerned to double our Diligence about it now before it is past Redemption As yet it it not too late but it will certainly be so when once we are dead Our Works will follow us into another World but it would be madness to think we may begin them there which way soever our Souls go we must necessarily be Losers by losing our Time here Our Saviour tells us of a broad Way that leadeth to Destruction Mat. 7. 13. And such as go that way are beyond all possibility of Redeeming their Time or of being Redeemed themselves when once they arrive at the end of their sad Journey Hell indeed was prepared for the Punishment of the Devil and his Angels and revealed to Men for their Terror that the sight of it might turn their Desires towards Heaven and frighten them into an eagerness of taking Sanctuary there whither Promises alone would hardly allure sordid and brutish Appetites But if after such proffers of infinite Happiness some will be so improvident and head-strong as to make that their Option which is the Devils Curse they can blame none but themselves for being at last without hope of
a true Christian Zeal I understand a Warm and well Governed Resolution to act according to Christ's Laws For there are two sorts of Zeal which are Faulty One is that which is not according to Knowledge as St. Paul tells us Rom. 10. 2. a blind Passion or Impetus that hurries all before it upon Presumptions and mistakes and without a deliberate Calm Examination of the true merits of the Cause Such a Zeal was his Own while he yet breathed out threatnings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord. He verily thought that he was bound to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth Act. 26. 9. This was his mistaken Zeal and therefore he obtained mercy afterwards because what he had done he did Ignorantly in unbelief Tim. 1. 3. There is another sort of Zeal which is not according to Sobriety an Inordinate heat of mind and that too mis-applyed upon objects that are not so proper though the mans Judgment be right and found when Zeal is employed about minute matters in comparison about the circumstantials and petite Appendages rather than about the essentials of Religion Such a Zeal was theirs who were strict and nice about Mint Anis and Cummin but omitted the weightier matters of the Law Righteousness mercy and Faith these things ought ye to have done and not to leave the other undone saith our Saviour Math. 23. 23. Our Zeal should be attended with Light as well as Warmth with Regularity and due Application as well as fervency and then 't is a well governed Zeal a Disposition made up of a right Principle and of due temper and Prudence Now such a sober earnestness of mind is absolutely necessary in order to the Redeeming of our time because it is the source and spring of action the natural principle of all vigorous performances without which we shall be so far from doubling our diligence that we shall express none at all but indulge our selves with the sluggard Pro. 6. 10. A Requiem is all he minds he makes his life literally a Dream yet a little sleep a little slumber a little more folding of the hands to sleep A bed is an improper place to Redeem time which slides away there insensibly and a spirit of slumber and an active mind are as great contradictions as Rest and work are There must be at least such a principle of Zeal in this case as there is of Industry in other cases a principle that stirs people up to their Business and Pleasures in their common course of life They that love the World begrudge no time they lay out upon it but rise up early sit up late and eat the bread of sorrows Psal 107. 2. The reason is because they have an inordinate and sorded Zeal for Mammon it is that inward Principle that makes them Restless and takes away from them the general comforts of mankind though for the sake of the world they count that stealth no manner of Robbery The Voluptuous care not how many hours they throw away upon the Pleasures of sin They wait for the Twilight Pro. 7. 9. They tarry long at the wine Prov. 23. 30. They rise up early in the morning that they may follow strong drink and continue until night till it inflames them Isa 5. 11. In short whatever peoples hearts are set upon they will be sure to follow with Industry and eagerness and the true Reason why they are so sparing of their time in the business of Religion is because they want such a Principle of vigour as makes them profuse and Prodigal in other cases Hence it is that the Bed or the Belly rob the Closet because their minds are not there that sports and pastime go away with those hours which meditation should take up and that such portions of the day are bestowed upon vanity and vice which should be expended upon Prayer Hence it is too that the House of God is so neglected that the Altar is past by when all things are ready but peoples Hearts and that they think it long till the Sabbath be over as those Jews did Amos 8. 5. The Reason of all this is because they are Lovers of other things more then of God or Religion or their own eternal Happiness there is not that true Christian Zeal which would render all these things a Delight at least would represent them as Duties instead of counting them a Burden As long as men slight Religion or are cold and Indifferent about it we cannot expect they should Redeem their time to any Good purpose To quicken and stir up all our minds for that weighty matter we should warm our hearts with a brisk and enlivening sense of our duty and of the Consequents which depend upon it we should call to mind the vast advantages which shall be the reward of a good Conscience and the Present pleasures which inseparably attend a godly righteous and sober life We should often reflect upon the vain Empty Perishing condition of all Wordly matters that after all our Arts and Labours for them we must leave them all Behind and can carry nothing away but our Consciences and works we should daily consider that we must all dye and after Death go to Judgement and think with our selves what terrible times those will be what a Precious thing an Immortal Soul is how unchangeable its state will be hereafter whether it be in misery or Bliss and what a Foolish thing 't will be to Lose it though it were for the Gaining of ten thousand worlds now We should consider with all what cares are necessary for the saving of a Soul How many things we are to do and what Little time we have to do them all in How our days pass away like a shadow how very uncertain the shortness of them is how many accidents there are to cut us off before Nature hath spun out her work to the Full of what dangerous consequence Delays are what a dismal thing it will be to be surpriz'd on a sudden and how Contingent the issues of Repentance may be though any ill man be permitted to lye long upon his sick bed with Friends and Prayers about him These and the like Religious meditations if rightly entertain'd will be apt to inspire us with warm Resolutions to Redeem our time while it is yet in our hand to make us Cautious of Losing a day more and to invigorate our souls with such an hearty principle as will render us not onely Diligent but very Zealous and Eager in a Christian course which puts me in mind of the vigorous Resolutions of that great Apostle St. Paul whose indefatigable Industry and Zeal to Redeem the time he had Lost is a Noble pattern for ours Phil. 3. 12 13 14. I follow after saith he forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before I press on toward the mark for the Prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus He there
Man unto the Measure of the Stature of the Fulness of Christ. CHAP. IX V. and ANother Effectual Way of Redeem-Lastly Aing our Time is To spend as much as may be of the remainder of it upon Devotion especially upon the Solemnities of Publick Devotion in the House of God A Day in thy Courts is better than a thousand saith the devout Psalmist Psal 84. 10. It is better spent and will turn to better Account than all the Years that Vice and Vanities consume To withdraw our selves from the World to take away as it were by Reprisal that Time which the World usually steals from us to Dedicate Offer up Appropriate that Time to God and to bestow it upon God This is such a plain way to recover our lost Hours as is obvious to all who have a true Sense of Religion But because there are many Duties which we own in the Theory to be Good and yet are wanting to in point of Practice to encourage our Endeavours as to this Particular Two Things require our serious Consideration I. First That to attend diligently upon the Ordinances and Institutions of our Religion is an excellent way for us to do the Great Work for which the redeeming of our best Time is prescrib'd and intended II. Secondly That it is a ready way to keep us from losing our time for the Future 1. First To attend diligently upon the Ordinances and Institutions of our Religion is an excellent way for us to do that great Work for which the Redeeming of our Lost time is prescribed and Intended By the Ordinances of our Religion I mean the Listning to and Meditating upon the Word of God the use of the holy Sacrament and the lifting up of our Hearts in Prayers and Thanksgivings and the like And by the great Work we are to do I understand the preparing and fitting our Souls for a Blessed Eternity Now for the effectual doing of this nothing serveth as a more proper and direct means than diligent attendance upon those Religious Offices For it is by the constant use of these Ordinances that the Spirit of God is Ministred unto us and worketh in us that our Lusts are gradually mortified that our Hearts are transform'd and changed as God would have them that the Virtues which are necessary to qualifie us for an heavenly State are confirm'd and increased in us and that we grow in Grace and in the saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ To illustrate this Matter particularly Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God Rom. 10. 17. Whether this Word be Preach'd or Read it is an instrument of Grace to all whose Hearts are open to receive and obey it Therein the most precious Promises are exhibited and the most terrible Threats denounced against all Ungodliness and Unrighteousness of Men especially against such as hold the Truth in unrighteousness Therein all those Doctrines are contained which are according unto godliness the whole Counsel of God is declared and all those Things revealed which are profitable for instruction in Righteousness that every Man may be perfect throughly furnished unto all good Works Therein are given those divine Laws which are apt to renew our Minds and to cleanse us from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit that we may perfect Holiness in the fear of God Therein also we see a great cloud of Witnesses who by their Exemplary Lives have taught us to lay aside every weight and the Sin that doth so easily beset us and to run with patience the Race that is set before us Above all therein we behold the Example of the Lord Jesus whose most holy Life was intended for a Pattern unto us that we should follow his steps and whose ignominious and most painful Death was intended partly to Frighten us from Sin that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifie to himself a peculiar People zealous of good Works All these things we find in the Scriptures and by these means the Scriptures if duly considered and meditated upon are of vast use to us and serve to produce in us Faith Hope Charity and all manner of Righteousness and true Holiness Upon which account it must needs be a very necessary and profitable way of Redeeming our Time to bestow as much of it as we can upon Learning Hearing Reading and inwardly digesting the good word of God which is thus able in all respects to save our Souls In like manner the frequent Participation of Christ's Body and Blood is a vast help towards those Spiritual improvements which should take up the greatest part of our time For as that heavenly Ordinance puts us in mind of God's adorable Perfections especially his Wisdom Righteousness and Mercy which shined so bright in the complicated Mystery of our Redemption so it serves to raise our Hearts into the highest Admirations of God and stirs us up to stand in awe of his Justice to rely upon his Compassions to express all possible Gratitude for Mercies so undeserved so stupendious to submit with all Humility to his Commands and Providence to shew the Sense we have of his great Goodness by suitable returns of Affection and to love one another because God hath so loved us all In short by preparing our selves duly for this Blessed Sacrament and by a Reverent and Religious use of it our Faith becomes the stronger our Hope 's the more vigorous our Charity the more Ardent our Minds the more Circumspect our Care and Caution the more strict and all the ordinary Gitfs and Graces of God's Spirit are thereby the more Exercised Confirmed and increased in us This shews what an admirable way of Redeeming our lost time this is to attend diligently upon the Institutions of our Religion because the great work we are to do in order to a blessed Eternity and to fit us for it is thereby carried on with constant Dispatch and with the quicker Hand But we should consider moreover how profitably we may employ our time and recover in some measure what is lost by daily setting aside some part and portion of the time we have for the Ordinance of Prayer alone even when we are not Communicants at the Altar nor hearers of the Word after the most solemn manner Every day will I bless thee saith the Psalmist Ps 145. 2. And indeed the thing is grounded upon an eternal Law of Reason For we stand in Need of his Goodness and Receive of his Goodness daily and therefore it is necessary and equal that we should address our selves to him daily with Supplications and Thanksgivings Now if we would do this I mean do it with such devout Hearts as ought to be applied to so sublime a Duty besides the advantage we get by attending Weekly and Monthly upon other Ordinances our daily attendance upon This would be of infinite use to us For hereby we do not only fit and prepare our Souls for an heavenly State but are indeed a Doing the works of Heaven