Lions Though they were thrust into Mines and Prisons yet they would find opportunities to Pray and Celebrate the Communion together for some of their Brethren that knew of their distress flocked to them and the first thing they did together was laying force on Heaven with their Tears and Prayers for indeed it was death to them not to join with their Fellow-Christians in Supplications and strong Cries for though they were very diligent in this Duty in their private Houses yet they took no Prayers to be so weighty or prevalent as those that were offer'd up in company The days they appointed for publick Prayer were the Lords Day the Anniversaries of their Martyrs and Wednesday and Friday every week on which two days they had their stations fasted and humbled themselves before Almighty God besides their Vigils at night which they thought sinful to spend without Prayer and Celebrations of Gods Goodness and Holiness Strange was their Longing for the House of God and the thirsty Earth cannot gape for Rain and Water more than they panted after their going with the Pious Multitude to their Oratories which made Dionysius Alexandrinus when driven into Exile and used very coursly by the Soldiers that had the charge of him complain in a Letter to his Friend how near it went to him to be deprived of those opportunities of meeting his Brethren on the usual Festivals and this he professes was infinitely more troublesome to him than to be chaced from his native home or live upon Bread and Water or to lie on the cold Ground or to endure other inconveniencies In their publick Assemblies even little Children that had been Baptized would come and appear among the graver sort and beg of their Pastors to offer up their Prayers for their advancement in the ways of Holiness and give themselves up to their Direction and Government So fervent were all sorts of people among them and they seemed ambitious of nothing so much as of exceeding one another in strictness and watchfulness That they used the Sign of the Cross much cannot be denied Indeed they made no Crosses of Gold or Silver but would cross their Breasts and Foreheads as a Badge of their Profession and whether they were going or standing or when they met one another or were to sit down at Table or to take their rest even in the Streets and Market-places they would sign themselves with this Sign and without this they scarce undertook any thing the rather because it distinguished them from the Heathens and was a Testimony of their joy that they were counted worthy to suffer reproach for the name of their Crucified Redeemer It is almost incredible what cost they bestowed upon the Burials of their deceased Friends and they were so resolute in it that though their Enemies both envied and reviled and sometimes punish'd them for it yet they went on and looked upon 't as sinful to neglect those Bodies when dead which in their life-time had been Temples of the Holy Ghost The care they took to embalm them was such that the Arabs profess'd they got more Money for their perfumes of the poor Christians than of the richer Pagans who yet were never without Incense in their Idol-Temples Such Pains and Cost did they bestow in performing the Exequies of Gods Servants and though they had little in the World yet what they had they were very free of on such occasions for they looked upon such Mens Funerals as Prologues to their Eternal rest and this Cost was an Emblem how much God valued those Saints that died in the Lord and how richly he would crown them when they had run their Race with Patience To their Princes and Magistrates they were ever very submissive and in all lawful things obedient to a tittle In their Prayers they always remembred them and though they persecuted and afflicted them yet that did not abate their Zeal and Vows for their welfare and prosperity Rebellion against their Governors they hated as Witchcraft and ever thought it safer to suffer than to resist Hence they paid Tribute without murmuring for their opinion was that no Man could have that power except it were given him from above His Tyranny could not make them neglect their Duty nor his ill Government tempt them to forget their Allegiance where the Man was rough and hard-hearted that was over them they look'd upon the Providence as a Means to trie their Faith and even then when they might have resisted and conquer'd they would not because they thought it was unsuitable to their Religion This was to be a Christian a thing outwardly contemptible yet at the same time with the hand of Faith grasping Heaven and the immense Glory of Paradice and labouring day and night that he might have something to give to Gods Ministers to the Poor and to his own family Not a few of them renounced the satisfactions of Matrimony lived single forsook all retired into Deserts buried themselves in Poor Cottages studied the Scriptures contemplated Heaven and lived to God Some travelled into far Countries Preach'd the Gospel and when they had laid a good Foundation there went farther and spent their Lives in Pains and Labours and doing good Thousands of their Virgins freely and voluntarily dedicated themselves to God and would be married to none but him and though many times they were tempted by rich Fortunes and Offers of great consequence yet nothing could alter their Resolutions of continuing Virgins and so they lived and so they died as they lived to Christ so they died in him Their Zeal was great and their Fervour signal and even then when Christianity began to decay their Lights did so shine and burn that they were enough to have revived it again into its former Glory if men would but have set their Examples before them and afforded them any serious consideration It 's true even among these Christians in the purest Ages there were divers that by their Lives disgraced that noble Religion But these were chastized with very severe Discipline and as long as they were in a state of Sin were not looked upon as Christians nor did any Christian converse with them If they repented they were forced to make their repentance publick and for some years together were forced to give such demonstration of it that the Devil himself could not but acknowledge the sincerity of it By Weeping and Prostrating themselves before Gods people and imploring the assistance of Believers and a hundred such austerities they sought to be reconciled to God and to his Church which made the Fathers say That the Penitent were no Scandal but an Ornament of the Church They were in a manner a distinct Church and the way to get among the true Believers was now harder than at their first embracing of Christianity yet these Penitent might truly say of themselves as the Spouse in the Canticles I am black but comely O ye Daughters of Jerusalem With this kind of Life the
the last day If Holiness of Life be a Ministers Duty only what makes you repent on your Death-beds that you have not minded it more What makes you send for us to cloath you with the Garments of Righteousness when your Souls are going to another World What makes the Apostles write so many Epistles to their Hearers and Disciples And what makes them fill their Epistles with so many pathetical exhortations to this seriousness Nay What do you come to Church for Is it only to hear us talk Is it only to divert your selves Is it only to pass away the time Is it not to learn your Work Is it not to know the Task God requires at your hands Is it not to be acquainted with the Will of God that you may do it and if so you bear witness against yourselves you condemn yourselves you acknowledge this Exercise is your Duty as much as ours There is never a sinner of you all that shall dare to plead in the great day of account that you were not persons concern'd in this work that it was out of your Element and beyond your Sphere God will bear witness and the Angels will bear witness and the Ministers of the Gospel will bear witness and your own Consciences will bear witness nay the Devils themselves will bear witness that you were told assur'd and convinc'd that it was to you that the message of Grace and Pardon was sent as well as to us and that you lay under the same obligation to fulfill the Conditions upon which that Pardon is offer'd that we do Who of you desires not to be saved Hath any of you a mind to be damn'd Dares any of you refuse the everlasting Mercy of God Do not you all declare that you would fain inherit the Kingdom which fades not away But shew us one Scripture one place in the Bible one tittle in the word of God that favours your Plea or allows you a different way to Eternal Happiness than is appointed to the Preachers of the Gospel and if God be resolv'd that all that enter into his joy shall improve their Talents work hard and walk in the same way all these pretences must needs vanish into smoak and can be nothing else but snares of the Devil and Lime-twigs of the Prince of the Air to catch your Souls into ruine and to deprive them of that Blessing which must advance them above the profaner Herd make them equal to Angels and what is more partakers of the Divine Nature So then what the Apostle saith here to Timothy he saith unto all Exercise thyself unto Godliness and I must intreat you to look upon this exhortation as spoken to every one of you in particular and to reflect on the importance of it with as much seriousness as if St. Paul did at this time from the mansions of Glory by a new Commission from Almighty God call you every one by your Names Thou Thomas John Daniel Peter Ann Elizabeth Mary c. Exercise thy self unto Godliness Fancy you see the glorious Apostle standing in the Clouds of Heaven and bespeaking you from the mouth of him who is resolved that not every one that saith to him Lord Lord but those that do his Will shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Fancy you hear him cry in your Ears Oh mortal men whom God so loved that he gave his only begotten Son to the end that all that believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life whom the Son of God is willing to deliver from Sin and Slavery and the bondage of the Devil for whom he suffered Agonies Wounds Torments Shame Reproaches and an Ignominious Death to purchase a Heaven and an endless Glory for you every Wound of his calls for this Exercise every Tear he shed is to melt you into a holy willingness to it every Word he spake is an Exhortation to it His Love challenges it His Labours and the Pains he took for you require it you cannot own him for your Redeemer without it he cannot save you from your sins without it if his Love be not worth this Exercise it is worth nothing O deluded Sinners Will you slight this Mercy Will you trample on the Blood of Jesus undervalue his Agonies or fancy they deserve no such Exercise O let not this Love be your ruine let not this Mercy be your Damnation let not this Kindness be the Fewel that must feed your Fire let not this Condescention be a Witness against you you know not what you refuse when you refuse this Exercise As you love your selves as you tender your eternal wellfare as you would not be counted haters of God despisers of his Love Apostates from all sense of Gratitude As you look for favor in the last day as you hope to see the Face of God in Glory as you desire to find Mercy of the Lamb that takes away the Sins of the World By all that 's holy and serious by the Tears of God's Ministers and what is dearer to you your own Interest and by all the Promises and Threatnings of the Gospel I entreat you Exercise your selves unto Godliness Could you but look into this Heaven and behold the vast Armies of Blessed Souls in this Celestial Quire here you would find none but such as did formerly when on Earth apply themselves to this Spiritual Exercise This is the place of Recompence He that was a stranger to these Exercises on Earth can expect no Reward in these Regions of Happiness Here Godliness appears in it's greatest Beauty and Glory As you expect the VVhite Garment the Royal Garb the Saints of this place do wear as you hope for Abrahams Bosom where now the once Godly Lazarus lies O delay not neglect not to Exercise your selves unto Godliness and what these Exercises are is the next thing I am to Treat of These Exercises are either Ordinary or Extraordinary either daily or to be used but now and then either constant or such as may for some time be intermitted till necessity and the exigency of our Spiritual Condition shall command a Reiteration I begin with the daily constant and ordinary and they are these following I. Exercise Praying always An Exercise injoyn'd by him who came to call Sinners to repentance Luc. 18. 3. 1 Thes. 5. 17. Ephes. 6. 18. By Praying always I mean to bring our selves to that habit of Praying to that disposition and temper and readiness to Pray as shall put us upon Praying wherever we are whatever company we are in and whatever we are doing though not with our Lips yet in our Minds and Understandings An Exercise of that consequence that this Praying Frame is one of the chiefest Pillars and Supporters of a Christian Life and this the Religious persons of Aegypt in Cassian's time did understand so well that they made exceeding short Prayers but very frequent every quarter of an hour and oftner sometime they sent up some Holy Ejaculations to Heaven and
of his Prayer in the Morning and behold what he presently subjoyns to that Duty When I have done this I then resolve how to order my Conversation that day and how I may please God and consider how I may best watch against those Corruptions which do most easily beset me The truth is Men running abroad abruptly without any previous consideration of what they mean to do for their Souls that day must needs continue strangers to that Spiritual Life our Profession obliges us to for this makes them rush into Sin as the Horse rushes into the Battle having no Bridle to restrain no Curb to keep them in order no Solemn Resolutions upon their Souls to check and govern themselves whereas if before I venture upon any worldly business or work of my Calling I do solemnly resolve in the presence of Allmighty God This day do I seriously intend thus and thus to behave my self by the blessing and assistance of Allmighty God I resolve if a Neighbor or any other person should be very Angry or Insolent with me to answer him with meekness and gentleness If I meet with success in my Business assoon as I come home will I enter into my Chamber and praise the Great Giver of every good thing If I am tempted to go into Company and have reason to suspect they 'l draw me into sin I 'le refuse to go though they revile and abuse me for it never so much or if I go into any Company I 'll speak but little or will endeavor to divert any vain Discourse to more savory Subjects If a man speak ill of me I 'll be sure not to speak ill of him again If I meet with any ill Language I 'll keep my mouth as it were with a bridle Yesterday I committed such an error against this fault I 'll watch to day and strive to reforme my Inclinations If my Servants or my Children do things undecent or unlawful I will certainly reprove them with tenderness and compassion If I meet with objects of Charity I 'll relieve them according to ability or if I meet with none I 'll seek out and enquire for some to whom I may express my Love and Christian Compassion If I am Ask'd a Question which I know not how to Answer readily without telling a Lie I am resolved either to be silent or to take time to consider of an Answer that I may not be surpriz'd into an untruth If I resolve thus before I set about any of my Secular Affairs I set up a kind of Remembrance Office in my Soul and constitute a Monitor in my Conscience that will put me in mind of my Obligations and pull me back when my Sensual Appetite would push me on to sin To make this Exercise more effectual select two or three of Christ's Precepts every Morning and resolve to live up to them strictly so long till you have conquered your selves and made the Practice of them familiar to you and when you are arrived to a facility and love of such Duties set your selves another task and make choice of two or three other Lessons especially of the Greater and Weightier sort and observe the same method By Example I seriously resolve this day to observe three Rules To speak evil of no Man to Praise God seven times with David to shun the occasion of such a sin suppose Anger or Hatred to my Neighbor Thus I will resolve every morning before I settle to any Work till these Duties become easie and pleasing to me and when my Soul begins to delight in them I 'll then appoint me another task in the Morning resolve to be cautious of promising and if I promise to keep strictly to my promise to deceive no Man though it were never so much for my profit and interest or to have good discourses at my Table And till I were Master of these Vertues too I would go on in my Resolutions every Morning and if I broke or acted contrary to them at any time I would renew them next day with greater vigor and earnestness This is it partly which Solomon means Eccles. 11. 6. In the morning sow thy seed and from these pains in the morning before we go abroad we may promise our selves an excellent harvest all the day To this end it will be necessary to consider what sins we are most prone and inclined to that we may resolve particularly against such and arm our selves against them And to this purpose I have read of one Sylvanus that he always began his Work in the morning with these holy purposes To Censure no body that day but to reflect always on his own sin whenever he met with a Temptation to judge his Brother Not to hate any person for his sin but to pitty him and to pray for him to think of the day of his death and not to rejoyce at any thing that was evil whence it came to pass that he arrived to that perfection of Grace that like another Abraham he became a Father of the faithful and able to comfort them which were in any trouble by the comfort wherewith himself was comforted of God to use St. Pauls expression 2 Cor. 1. 4. Where people venture out without putting on this Armour of God this Shield of Faith and this Breast-plate of Righteousness no wonder if they expose themselves to the Fiery Darts of the Devil and the insolence of that roaring Lion which walks about seeking whom he may devour such a Soul lies open to his incursions and having no hedge to fence it The Bore out of the Wood doth waste them and the wild Beast of the Field devours them as David speaks Psal. 80. 13. Such resolutions in the morning are a wall about the Soul and the Devil cannot easily climb it the sight of it weakens his attempts and he is afraid of approaching it as much as once he was of coming near the Cell of Holy Sophronius These are the bulwarks that fright the slaves of Hell and where they see such Citadels built against their fury their courage fails them or where they assail the Fort it is but with fear and trembling Such Resolutions shew that we do not take up Religion out of custom but upon serious deliberation and perswasion that this is the one thing necessary and that the fear of God hath our chiefest care and is the beginning of our wisdom a temper without which God rejects our service and hides his face from our customary Devotions and gives them no other welcome but this Who hath required this at your hands Sirs you purpose in a morning to dispatch such and such of your worldly affairs that day Why should you not purpose to do something more than ordinary for God or for your Souls every day How came your Spiritual concerns to deserve so little care Why must ye needs be slovenly and careless in this particular Is not your Soul more than your Trade and your Eternal welfare more
behold with amazement the many Millions of poor tormented Creatures that howl and shriek and lament that they have neglected so great a Salvation and this doleful cry makes me watch against every weight and every sin which does so easily beset me And now Brethren If there be any consolation in Christ if any comfort of love if any fellowship of the Spirit if any bowels and mercies fulfil ye my joy and let not this Exercise seem grievous to you Plead not that it is out of fashion if it be so do you make it modish You know who it is that beseeches you by the Mercies of God not to conform your selves to the World If it be out of fashion to be saved will you therefore resolve to be damn'd Bear up against the stream Be not ashamed of Christ and of his Gospel You dare not plead this Excuse in the last day why should you alledge it now Here is no Rhetorick required no Eloquence no Florid Learning O that you were but more sensible of your spiritual wants O that your hearts were but more inflamed with the love of God! O that you did but observe God's dealings with your Souls more and would take more notice of God's Providences and the Operations of his Hands You would not then want language to express your selves in to your Children Servants Friends Neighbors and Acquaintance but the sense within would force you to say with David Come and I will tell you what the Lord hath done for my Soul Psal. 66. 19. Do not think Heaven so cheap a thing as your careless Neighbours do either Christ and Heaven and our future Glory are worth talking of or nothing can be worth it Dare to prefer Heaven before the World and in your Words as well as Actions manifest the sincerity of your resolution You cannot pretend impossibility you have a Tongue you have Reason you hear the Ministers of the Gospel you see God's Providences you know Heaven and Hell are before you you read many excellent Lessons what should hinder you from speaking of these weighty things It 's but bending and moving your Tongues to such Subjects and they 'll yield as easily as they do when you bend them to frivolous vain and idle talk to gossipping or complementing or prating of other Mens Matters You will rest the sweeter at night when you have been talking of good things in the day-time you 'll go with greater comfort to Bed your sleep and repose will be more pleasing and satisfactory when you have exercised your Tongues in matters of this nature When you talk of such heavenly and spiritual things you are not exposed to so many Temptations as otherwise you are when in company with others you may sin in talking of your Neighbours you may sin in speaking of the Actions of Kings and Princes you may sin in telling things and passages for true which have no other foundation but an uncertain report you may sin in foolish jestings and jeering one another but in discoursing of heavenly things you are safe you are in God's way God walks with you bears you company and the Enemy of your Souls will despair of prevailing with you you shun the occasions of evil and you prepare your selves to quench the fiery darts of the Devil hereby you may do good to others comfort your Neighbours support your fellow-Christians and in such Conferences a word may drop from you as may keep those you discourse with from despair and which may be an encouragement to them as long as they live It was bravely done of that Young-Man under Decius his Persecution who being by force tied upon a Down-Bed in a Room made for Pride and Luxury and sollicited to Uncleanness by a Harlot sent to him by the Governour on purpose to provoke him to sin bit his Tongue to pieces that the smart and pain might drown all sense of Voluptuousness and so spit it in the Harlots face But here we require no such severity but all that is expected from you in this Exercise is to keep your Tongues from evil and your Lips from speaking guile to speak of the Glorious Honour of God's Majesty and of his Wondrous Works to utter abundantly the memory of his great Goodness and to declare his Righteousness The very Heathen have seen the necessity of this Exercise therefore they shall be your Judges in the last day and I know not how to express their sense of this duty better than by setting down the words of the sober Epictetus Prescribe thy self a Rule saith he which thou mayst observe when thou art either by thy self or in company with others Either be silent or let the things thou speakest of be necessary and profitable When thou speakest talk not of light and trivial things as Wrestling and Horses or Fencers or Swords or Meat or Drink neither spend thy time in praising or dispraising Men but let thy discourse be of something noble decent grave and serious but if this cannot be hold thy peace Thus did the Primitive Saints and when they visited one another their care was to put one another in mind of the words and actions of their Great Redeemer what he did and what he promised and what he suffered how kind he was to this Blind Man how favourable to that Leper how loving to the Lame how compassionate to the Blind how gracious to his Enemies how free and communicative to his Friends what pity he expressed to sinful Men how meek he was before his Accusers how patient before his Tormentors how he ran to kiss the Penitent how he wept over the obstinate Jews and how he long'd for Mens Salvation These were their discourses and they would hardly give themselves liberty to talk of their Worldly Affairs except necessity forced them for they believ'd that by their Charter they were to have their Conversation in Heaven and this they thought imported talking much of their Heavenly Country and of the Joys and Hallelujahs of that Kingdom It was the custom of some Heathen Priests of old in the service of their Gods to wash or dip their Tongues in Honey an excellent Emblem to teach us how our Tongues must be purified and sanctified and seasoned with that Word which is sweeter than the Honey and the Honey-comb Psal. 19. 10. And indeed then our words are sweet and there is Milk and Honey under our Tongues when we exhort and admonish one another daily taking heed lest we be harden'd through the deceitfulness of sin Heb. 3. 13. VI Exercise Every day to watch against those sins which in the eye of the World are small and inconsiderable an Exercise commanded Matth. 5. 19. 1 Cor. 5. 6. Jud. Vers. 23. Indeed Christ's whole Sermon upon the Mount is chiefly bent against those sins which purblind Mortals are apt to miscall little and trivial The Pharisees were such ill Divines that they not only believed but taught the people too That in the Ten
Accomplishments fall short of its Glory and he that hath it offers a more acceptable Sacrifice to God than he that kills the Cattle upon a Thousand Hills and lays them upon his Altar This is the Livery of the Citizens of Heaven and that which makes Saints and Angels so happy is their perfect Charity Our love to God is nothing but froth and smoak without it and he 'll never believe that we prize his favour while we are loath to venture on a duty he is so much in love with This makes a Man a living Man without this Religious Societies are no better than Hells as St. Jerom phrases it and the Inhabitants of Convents no better than Devils Put on Sackcloth tear your Flesh fast your selves to Death lie on the hard Ground walk in black pray whole days together without Charity you are not yet arriv'd to the Perfection of Apostolical Holiness X Exercise Conscientiously and faithfully to discharge the Duties of our several Relations Callings and Conditions an Exercise injoyn'd Ephes. 6. 1 2 3 4 5 9. Col. 3. 18 19 20 21 22. Col. 4. 1. 1 Pet. 2. 17 18. Tit. 2. 2 3 4 6 9. Hebr. 13. 17. 1 Tim. 3. 2 3 9 12. Rom. 13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. Let a Christian work never so hard if he make not this conscientious discharge part of his work he works as those that built the Tower of Babel to no purpose rolls Sisyphus's Stone and like Subterraneous Spirits that are to be seen in Mines with great labour and industry does nothing What I mean by several Relations Callings and Conditions no Man can be ignorant of that hath heard of such Names as Father and Mother Parents and Children Masters and Servants Husbands and Wives Tutors and Scholars Magistrates and Subjects Ministers and People Rich and Poor Old Men and Young Men Bond and Free Noble and Ignoble Tradesmen and Gentlemen If the Exercise commanded in the Text be universal then certainly all these have their Task all these are bound to exercise themselves in Duties belonging to the relation or condition they are in And 1. How do I exercise myself unto Godliness as a Father or Mother of Children except I shew them a good example except I behave my self decently gravely soberly and modestly before them that they may learn nothing that 's ill by my carriage Except I breed them up in the fear of God talk to them of the odiousness of Sin and beauty of Holiness instruct them in the ways of God and pray with them and for them except I provide for them not only for their Bodies but their Souls too except I admonish them in the Lord check them for their sins reprove them for their faults and correct them early for any undecent action or expression except I oblige them to use reverence and respect to their Father that begot them and their Mother that bore them except I instil conscientious Principles into them Principles of Justice Honesty Goodness Meekness Patience and giving every one their due except I enquire into their Devotion whether and how they read and pray and hear except I watch their actions their eating and drinking sleeping working writing studying playing and see whether they keep within bounds or no except I examine them what progress they make in Piety whether they make conscience of secret duties whether they are respectful and obedient to the Ministers of the Word of God whether they be attentive in hearing Sermons whether they delight in keeping the Lord's Day holy and what apprehensions they have of their spiritual and eternal condition how they spend their time and whether they apply themselves to those Virtues they read and hear of whether they do not indulge themselves in pride or lying or envy or hatred or revengeful desires whether they are tractable and live up to the Rules and Precepts I give them 2. Then I exercise my self unto Godliness as a Child as a Son or Daughter when I follow the good Instructions of my Parents when I obey them in every lawful thing when I have an honest desire to please them and a filial fear of their displeasure when I do not lose my respect to them though I am got out of their jurisdiction nor deride them for their infirmities but like the Sons of Noah cover their nakedness with the Cloak of Charity when I speak of them and to them with reverence when I take their admonition and correction kindly when I seek to promote their honour credit and reputation when I attend to their good counsels and am guided by their discretion and wisdom and good example when I imitate them in their seriousness and when I hearken to their Instructions and do not forsake their Law when I neither Marry nor settle my self in the World without their advice and am govern'd by their direction more than by mine own determination when I express my grateful resentment of their kindnesses and study how I may requite their paternal care and love when I interpret all they do or say candidly when I respect them though they are poor and bear the same love to them if they be sunk into a low condition that I would have done if they had been advanced to the highest pitch of prosperity when I relieve them in their distress support them in their want and like Aeneas carry them out upon my shoulders to save them from fire and danger when like that happy Daughter in Pliny I feed them with mine own blood and like the Children of Catania of old rather endanger my self than see them perish when in their unlawful commands I shew passive obedience and where I cannot obey them for Conscience sake suffer their anger and the effects of it patiently without traducing of them or exposing them to the scorn and laughter of Men when like the Rechabites I obey them in things lawful yet difficult and suffer not the uneasiness or hardness of the task to discourage me from acting according to their Prescriptions 3. How can that Man be said to exercise himself unto Godliness as a Master of a Family that is himself a slave to sin and to the Devil that either drinks or swears or cheats or lyes and in stead of discouraging his Servants from any of these sins doth rather tempt and entice them to these transgressions That is regardless of his great Master in Heaven to whom ere long he must give an account of his Stewardship That is indifferent what becomes of his Servants Souls and is not much concern'd whether they are ever like to get to Heaven so they do but do their business well on Earth That makes nothing of God's Commands and lives as if the Precepts of the Lord Jesus did not belong to him That gives himself to laziness and idleness and thereby teaches his Servants to do so too That makes no Conscience of redeeming the
Tobit whose Talent lay chiefly in burying the Dead out of Charity or as that Lady Cassian speaks of who took into her house a wayward troublesome peevish cholerick poor Widow that she might become eminent in Patience Such Exercises I confess are great and noble and befit the holiness of a Christian but yet one particular Grace must not be exercised to the decay of the rest or with secret hopes that God who sees us laborious in one Virtue will dispense with our neglect of others I am sensible it is with Grace as it is with Nature and some Graces as some Actions are more suitable to our inclinations than others not but that we are obliged to love and embrace all but some our affections are more violently carried out after than others as a Father though he is kind to all his Children yet by some secret instinct or Propensity hath a more tender affection to one than to another and without all peradventure it is a very laudable and commendable thing to be industrious in any gracious Work and Relious Action but however our inclinations may chiefly run after one particular Grace the rest also must be duly exercised and fortified into habit and a second nature else we have reason to suspect that that seemingly holy fruit is not a Plant of our heavenly Fathers planting who disperses influences and assistances sufficient for the growth of every Grace and improvement of every Virtue in the Soul and consequently justly expects that his Vineyard should bring forth sweet Grapes not some sower and some sweet but all sweet and all pleasing to a spiritual palate and appetite Of the necessity of this Exercise none can doubt that doth but take pains to read over the several Parables of the Gospel wherein Grace is compared to Seed and sure no Gardiner or Husbandman ever threw Seed into the Ground but took care that it might grow and advance into a Blade next into an Eare and in the end into ripe Corn all the Exhortations all the Admonitions all the Counsels in Scripture to Stedfastness and Abounding and Increasing and Going on to Perfection do with one Mouth and with one Voice proclaim the necessity of this Exercise And O Christians if you would know what it is to recover the great loss you had in Adam this Exercise will be your Schoolmaster this will in some Measure bring you up to that Innocence and Perfection he enjoy'd in Paradise This will re-entitle you to that Image of God in which he was at first created This will make the Divine Characters which Sin hath blotted legible again This will make the Divine Nature flourish in you again Make your Faces shine like that of Moses when he descended from the Mount This will set a Beauty on your Souls fit for God to be enamor'd withall By this you will be able to guess at the Glory of the first Creation and what wonderful Creatures your first Father and Mother were before the fatal Tree became a Snare to their Appetite This will make you fit company for your Head Christ Jesus who therefore gave some Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers even for the perfecting of the Saints for the edifying of the Body of Christ till we all come in the unity of the Faith and of the Knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect Man unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ for indeed this is growing up unto him in all things from whom the whole body joyn'd together and compacted by that which every joynt supplies according to the effectual working in the measure of every part makes increase in the Body unto the edifying it self in love Ephes. 4. 11 12 13 15. XV. Exercise Every Night before we go to Bed to call our selves to an Account for the Actions of the Day and Examine our Hearts and Lives how we have discharged our Duty towards God and toward Man An Exercise commanded Psal. 4. 4. 2 Cor. 13. 5. Jerem. 8. 6. This Exercise is the life of all the rest and the great reason why Men make no greater progress in Goodness is because they do not study and search their own Lives and Actions How should we know what good we ought to do except we examine what evil we commit The Merchant at night casts up the gains of the day and if he finds he hath lost more then he hath gained seeks to recover it with the first opportunity It 's a wonderful thing we should examine our Servants about trifles and inconsiderable matters and leave our selves about whom Heaven and Earth are concerned unexamined A Man tryes the Oxen he hath bought whether they be strong to labour or no and his Horses whether they will do him service or no and sees whether he hath all his Sheep and whether none of his Cattle be lost and shall we be such enemies to our own Souls as not to see what condition they are in No Man can be a good Man that neglects his Exercise for every good Man must be cautious of offending God But How can any Man be cautious of offending him that doth not search and see what it is that doth offend him and whether his own actions be not the things that do displease him Nothing will make a man more cautious then this frequent calling himself to an account and since every rational person that chuses the end must necessarily chuse the means also that lead to that end it will unavoidably follow that he that is a good Man and cautious of offending God cannot but resolve upon this Self-examination the great means to arrive to that cautiousness This was David's practice and long before him Isaac who went every Night into the Field to Meditate as we read Gen. 24. 63. no doubt in that Meditation reflected on the Actions of the Day that he might Praise God for the particular Assistances and Influences he had felt and for the future watch against the Errors and Defects he had been guilty of that day Men to whom the Word of God never came have seen the necessity of this Exercise and thought they could not be Men without it and O my Friends Can we be Christians without it It was one of the Canons of the Pythagorean Discipline to call to mind what they had been doing in the Day and sometimes they reflected on what they had done two or three dayes before This was the Doctrine and Practice of Cleobulus and of the Indian Gymnosophists who strictly enquired what good they had done in the day time And How like a Christian doth the Noble Seneca speak when he tells his Friend Novatus The heart must every day be call'd to an account So did the brave Sextius before he composed himself to sleep when day-light was shut in he Ask'd his heart What Disease what Distemper of Nature hast thou Cured What sin hast thou withstood
every Lesson that 's deliver'd in publick and when they hear Sinners reprov'd and condemn'd cry with the Disciples of our Lord Master is it I But our Business for the most part being with men who like wanton Children will scarce eat the Meat that 's cut for them and are so choak'd with the Cares and Riches and Enjoyments of this World that the loudest Thunders of God make no impression on them and fancy because they are not particularly named in the Bible that therefore the Commands there given do not belong to them we are forced to make the way they are to walk in as easie as we can remove the Stones out of it and tell them every step of the way in hopes that all these pains may work upon their good Nature and oblige them to break loose from the Kingdom of Sin and Darkness And therefore 1. If the Actions and Motions of our outward and inward man be made the Rule of this Daily Self-examination the particular questions that must be proposed to our Hearts at night must be such as these To begin with the Senses As for the Ear Have not I this day heard some ill immodest unsavoury Expressions used by others and hath it been a grief to me hath it been a trouble to my Soul to think that my God was abused and dishonoured by it Have not my Ears been open to corrupt and vain communications Have not I been tickled with some obscene or filthy Story I have heard Have I heard my Neighbour reviled or ill spoken of and have I done the duty of a Friend and justified his innocent Behaviour Have I heard this day of any undecent deportment of any of my Family and have I reproved them for it or admonished them to amendment of life Have not I been pleased with the Commendations I have heard men pass upon me and hath not their applause tempted me to vain-glory Have I heard of losses I have had with Patience Have I heard a man speak disgracefully of me without being enraged at the Calumny Have I heard men entice me to sin and have I abhorred the invitation Have I heard men Swear and Curse and have I been concern'd at the greatness of their Sin On the Lords day especially Have I heard the Word this day with seriousness Did I come to Hear with Resolutions to Practice what I heard Was my Heart affected with the happy Message of Grace and Pardon Was not I more taken with the Ministers delivery than the great things he spoke of Was it custom that obliged me to go and hear or was it a fervent desire to be edified and built up in my most holy Faith Do I feel in my self any Purposes at this present to do as I have been advised to day Did I prepare my self for hearing the Word by suitable Thoughts and Contemplations of that awful Majesty before whom I was to appear Did I feel any heat in my Hearing which was ready to consume the Straw and Stubble of my carnal Affections Did I find any sweetness in the Word of God I heard to day Was my heart ravisht when I heard the joyful news of Christs Redemption to day Was my Soul affected with the love of God when I heard it described to day at the Receiving of the Holy Sacrament Have I done my duty at home Have I made my Servants and Children hear what the Lord their God requires at their hands As for the Eye Have I this day lifted up mine Eyes to Heaven and taken notice of Gods Providences Have not I fed mine Eyes with some unlawful Spectacle Have not I seen men sin and laught at it Have not I beheld immodest Actions and been delighted with them Hath not the sight of such a Vanity transported me into admiration of it Have I read a Portion of the Holy Scriptures to day and remembred to apply the things I read of to mine own Conscience Have I been enflamed with the goodness of the men I have read of Have the Duties and Precepts I have read caused in me a willingness to perform them Have I beheld the Finger of God in the Blessings I have received to day Have I taken notice of Gods goodness to me and mine and stood amazed at it Have I look'd upon the Works of God to day upon Trees and Herbs and Flowers and admired the Wisdom Glory and Bounty of God As for the Tongue and Lips Have I wilfully spoke evil of no man to day Have not I rendred Railing for Railing and Threatning for Threatning Have I been careful to drop something of God in the company I have been in Did not I Eat and Drink to day more to please my Appetite then to repair the decay'd strength of my nature that I might be more serviceable to God and my Neighbour Did I take occasion to speak of something that 's good at my Table And when I craved a Blessing was not my mind more intent upon the Meat before me than on the Great God above me Have not I been intemperate to day Did not I Eat and Drink more than Nature required Have I Pray'd with my Family to day and did that Prayer proceed from an humble sense of our Spiritual Wants and Necessities Have not I said something whereby my Neighbour might suffer in his Credit and Reputation Have I dropt never a Lye in my Shop or Trade or in company either in Jest or for some Advantage or to please Men Have not I rashly made or falsly broke a Promise Have I in my Addresses and Answers shew'd all Meekness unto all Men Have not I talk'd Surly or Proudly to a Man because he was Poor Have not I disdain'd to speak to him because he went in Rags Have I avoided foolish Talk and when I have been tempted to break a Jest which was either Smutty or might be some way prejudicial to my Neighbour have I suppressed it and been more ambitious of being Grave and Modest than of the Reputation of being Witty As for the Hands and Feet whereby the Scripture usually expresses Mans actions Have I been diligent in the Duties of my Calling to day Have I defrauded no Man deceived no Man Have I dealt uprightly and honestly with all Men Have I shunn'd that company which I was afraid would draw me into Sin Have not I complyed with some sinful Action of the Company I have been in Have I some way or other shewn my abhorreney and detestation of their Sins Have I really endeavour'd more to please God than Men What good have I done to day Have not I taken more pains and care to dress my Body than I have done to beautifie my Soul Have not I been more curious about my Cloaths than about my Graces Have not I been more careful to make my Face pleasing to Spectators than I have been to approve my self to God Have not I lost somewhat of the Life of Religion by going into such Society Have not I spent
my time in idleness Have I taken care to spend it for Eternity As for the Mind Have I endeavour'd to disposses my Mind of Evil thoughts to day Have I called in Pious and Spiritual Reflections Have I resisted Wandring thoughts in Prayer Have not I suffered worldy thoughts to eat out the virtue of my Prayers Have I in my supplications represented to my Mind Gods Greatness Goodness Majesty and Holiness And was I sensible of my Spiritual Wants and Necessities all the time Have I been much in holy Ejaculations to day Was God first and last in my thoughts when I Waked this morning and went to Rest last night As for the Conscience Have I made Conscience of the least Sins to day Have I conscientiously discharged the Duties of my several Relations Have I done as a person in such a Relation would and should have done Have I made Conscience of doing a thing which I have either known or feared to be a Sin Have not I made light of Sin Have not I laught at those Sins I should have Mourned at Have I been concern'd at other Mens Sins as well as at mine own As for the Passions and Affections Have not I given way to the Workings of Pride and Anger to day Have not I been angry with my Neighbor without a Cause Have not I in a Passion given men ill Language Have not I said that in my Wrath which now I wish I had not Have not I been fiery and hot upon very slight and trivial occasions Have not I mistrusted Gods Providence Have not I been more careful about making provision for the Flesh than about enriching of my Soul Have not I found greater joy in temporal than in spiritual Blessings Hath not such a vanity such a Present such a Gift affected and ravished me more than the news of Gods Grace and Pardon and the influences of the Holy Ghost Have I watcht against Wrath and Envy and Malice and immoderate Grief and carnal Mirth Have I got ground of such a corruption Have I been better to day than yesterday Have I serv'd God without distraction more to day than I have done formerly Such questions as these you may put to your Hearts if you mean to take your outward and inward man into consideration But then 2. If you had rather make the Ten Commandments your Rule the Account may be taken in this manner As to the First Commandment Have not I this day confided in the Creature more than in the Creator Have not I been wilfully ignorant of some Truth that hath been brought to my Ears Have not I despised God by rejecting some motions of his Holy Spirit Have not I lived to day like a Man that doth not believe the Promises and threatnings of God Have not I doubted of some Truth revealed in the Word of God or lived as if I had doubted of his Providence Hath my Faith been lively this day Did not I sink into carnal Security Have I exercised my Hope in God Have I expressed my love to God to day Have not I loved some outward thing more than God Hath not my love to God been in words only Hath it discover'd it self in actions Have I desired to be at peace with God and to be united unto him more Have I done nothing that hath savour'd of hatred or contempt of God As to the Second Commandment Have I feared God to day and have I feared him more than all the men I have had to do with Have I been very cautions of offending him Have I abhorred the motion when I have been tempted to any Evil Have I obeyed God in sincerity Hath there been any known Sin that I have not shunn'd or hath there been any known Duty which I was not more forward to perform than to omit Have not I exalted my self or thought my self better than my Neighbours Have I given God all the Glory and have I spoke very modestly of my self Have not I been peevish and impatient under such a Providence that hath crossed my Designs Have not I indulged my self in Hypocrisie Have I been more desirous to be than to seem good Have I given God that Worship to day which is due to him Have I prayed to him in Truth and praised him with joyful Lips As to the Third Commandment Have not I this day neglected an opportunity of giving good Counsel and Advice to men related to me Have not I shunn'd discourses of God and Holiness Have I admired and adored Gods Holy Attributes Have not I broke forth into rash Oaths Have not I been ashamed of standing up for the Glory of Gods name Have I trembled to see God abused Have I shew'd Courage and Resolution when I have seen or heard my God dishonour'd Have not I scandalized some Persons by my Actions Have not I abused my Christian Liberty Have I magnified Gods Mercies and dared to own God in the Blessings I have received Have not I extenuated or denied Gods Mercies Have not I neglected the Gifts of God that are in me Have not I by my lukewarmness betray'd Christ's Cause Have not I neglected my Duty of Prayer upon the account of some Wordly Interest Have not I begg'd of God things contrary to the Will of God As to the Fourth Commandment which doth in a special manner respect the Lords day Have I gone this day with joy into the House of God Have I heard the Word and treasured it up in my Heart Have not I aimed more at the information of my Judgment than at warming my Affections Was it Curiosity or Piety that led me to the Temple Have I gathered my thoughts together in the publick Prayers of the Church and hath my Heart and Desires gone along with the Supplications the Minister of God put up to Heaven Have not I thought of my Trade and Farms and Oxen while I have been repeating the words after Gods Minister Have I meditated and bid my thoughts fly up to Heaven to take a view of my Eternal rest Have I Read in private Have I called my Family together read to them instructed them made them give me an account of what they remember Have not I preferred my Worldly profit to day before my Duty Have not I stayed away from the publick Worship of God for wordly Gain When I received the Holy Sacrament to day were my thoughts fixed on the Cross of Christ Was my Soul affected with the Mystery of Gods love Did my Sins grieve me when I beheld Christ Crucified Did the sight of Christs Crucifixion fill me with indignation against my Sins Did it fill me with serious deliberate Resolutions to watch against them Did it fill me with Praises and Adorations of the stupendious Humiliation of the Son of God Did it make me resolve to imitate him in his Holiness Have I according to the Apostles Command laid in store as God hath prospered me the foregoing week Have I laid aside somewhat of my Gain for Pious uses
Lust and sinful Concupiscence must die and all irrational Passions must expire This makes the Herb of Grace culminate and spread its wholsome Leaves This makes the Art of Praying easie and draws forth streams of Tears By neglect of this Sense the World was lost and by this Sense the World must be recover'd Eve though she had the understanding of an Angel yet at that time when she eat the forbidden Fruit she look'd not upon that God that bid her shun the Tree and so she fell By looking on God wherever we are we enter into a Tower which Enemies may besiege but cannot take or batter In a word the most effectual means either to obtain or keep or recover the Grace of God is this Sense of Gods Omnipresence This is a Lanthorn to our Feet and a Light unto our Paths and like Fire thrown into a hedge of Reeds burns up the evil Thoughts that do annoy us so that the Man in Pelagius was certainly in the right whose Motto it was that looking upon God in all places and all Companies and remembring his Presence is as necessary as our breath or the Blood that Circulates in our Veins XIII Exercise To do all things to God's Glory An Exercise commanded 1 Cor. 10 31. Coloss. 3. 17. Ephes. 5. 20. 1 Thess. 5. 18. When I say all things I totally exclude all Sinful Actions for no man can intentionally commit Sin to God's Glory God indeed will glorifie his Justice one day in the Sinners Condemnation and the perverse Transgressor who will not Glorifie God now as God shall hear the Saints one day Admire and Adore him for his Just Proceedings against obstinate Offenders and God many times from a Great Sinner makes an Admirable Convert but this doth not justifie a Mans Sinning to Gods Glory He that sins sins to God's dishonour and the man that transgresses his Commands seeks to bring a disparagement on the most spotless Being But by all things I mean all Actions that have a Natural or Moral Goodness in them and this Exercise consists 1. In giving Thanks for every Blessing we enjoy 2. In doing all things whether Civil or Religious with a good and holy design or with an intent to promote God's Glory 1. In giving Thanks for every Blessing we enjoy He that is not sensible of the great necessity of this Exercise hath never heard of what Moses David St. Paul and the whole Army of Saints have done and he that knows not what it means hath certainly forgot that God is his Creator and he his Creature Not to give God thanks for the Blessings we possess is to be a Beast nay worse then a Beast for the very Dragons Praise God in their kind as we read Psalm 148. 7. And yet to thank him without consideration of what we do adds nothing to our happiness no more then a Parrot repeating some words out of a Psalm makes him any whit the more Rational To give God thanks requires attention of the Mind and the Man that Praises him must seriously break forth into Astonishments at his Goodness To say I Thank God and not to feel what I say is an argument of Carelessness and there cannot be a greater sign of Stupidity then to Commend his Goodness and not to mind what I mean by the Expression It is a sense of mine own unworthiness must force those Praises from me and a foresight of my own demerit oblige me to high and noble thoughts of my great Benefactor Every Blessing must lift up my heart to Heaven and every Mercy I receive must make my Soul adore the hand that sent it If my Lips be only employed in the Exercise I offer indeed the Calves of my Lips but continue a stranger to that Living Sacrifice I am to bring which is my reasonable Service Not to Praise God for his Blessings with admiration of his Bounty is as bad as to be dumb in his Celebrations and there is little difference between him that says nothing and him that speaks like a Man unconcern'd He that in his Blessings reflects only on the Second Causes whereby it was procured robs God of his honor and to ascribe any Mercy to mine own Wisdom or Industry or Friends is no less then Sacriledge Nay if I spend the Blessing which was given me to do good with upon mine own Lust I am perfidious and if in stead of putting it to those uses for which God designed it I make it serve me in my sins I am so unfaithful a Steward that I am not fit to be received into Everlasting Habitations I must see God in every Blessing and take notice of his Gracious Providence in the Dispensation I must not feed on it as Beasts upon Grass without regard to him that made it grow and indeed I cannot put a greater affront in this case upon the Almighty then by not considering the operations of his hand Every Blessing hath the stamp of God upon it It bears his Image and Superscription and therefore it is injurious not to give to God the things that are Gods To prize the various Blessings of God I must consider and take notice how my wants and necessities are supplied and when I see wherein I do excell others I cannot possibly want matter of sutable Gratitude But Secondly The greater part of the Exercise is yet behind and that is To do all things whether Civil or Religious with a good and holy design and with an intent to promote God's Glory This is a Work which few do mind and even many of those that seem to do more then others are defective in this Duty I do not deny but that a Man may lawfully have two ends in every action a Spiritual and a Temporal but the Spiritual end must be my chief end and that which must be the Principal Motive to such a work must be a prospect of doing good or being serviceable to Gods Glory I must Preach and Pray and Sing Psalms to Gods Glory and Drink and Eate and lie down and Sleep and Visit and Discourse and follow the Works of my Lawful Calling to Gods Glory When I Eate and Drink I must not do it to please my Appetite so much as to be more serviceable to my Master in Heaven When I Visit I must have a design of Edification in it and must resolve to drop some Savoury Discourse in the place I go to When I am going to take my rest it must not be with an intent meerly to Sleep and to refresh my Body but chiefly with an intent to be the better able to do my Masters Work When I enter upon the Works of my Calling my design must be more to please God and to obey his Will then to provide for the ease and satisfaction of my Flesh When I rise in the Morning I must rise with an intent to spend that day for Eternity and whatever I do I must do it more to please God then to please my self But
above all my Religious duties must have no other design but that God may be glorified by them and that his Name may be advanced and his Honour spread must be the great end of all my Alms and Supplications Christ's Interest must be my chiefest Interest and I am no complete Christian till God becomes all in all to me To be a favourite of Heaven this must be my Motto To me to live is Christ and I must not only say so but say it with that seriousness that I may be able to call God to Witness that it is so And though at every bit I eate I cannot and need not say I will eate this for God yet it 's possible to mind this great end in every solemn Action and when I sit down to eate to intend some Glory to God suitable to the occasion There is nothing makes a greater alteration in our Duties then the Design and many a Religious performance would certainly be accepted in Heaven if the Design were great and noble Worldly designs prevail too often even in the severest duties and nothing spoiled the Pharisees Austerity so much as the ill end they had in them It was the Design that made that vast difference between the Offerings of Cain and Abel Abel's Sacrifice being accompanied with Poverty of Spirit with a heart sensible of the Greatness and Goodness of God and willing to express it's gratitude to the Father of Lights from whom every good and perfect gift descends God vouchsafed it a gracious look whereas Cain's Offerings proceeding either from force custom or from complaisance to his Fathers command was scorned and undervalued God's Glory is best sought by self-contempt and the only way to exalt our Maker is to vilify our selves The viler a Man makes himself the clearer sight he gets of God's Greatness and he that looks upon himself as despicable dust and ashes is most likely to behold the brightness of that God that made him They say That a Vessel that hath Ashes in it will hold as much Water as it would if there were no Ashes in it whereas if other things should be put into the Vessel it would hold the less quantity of Water So contempt of my self will not keep out my Exaltation of God's Glory nor my sitting in the dust obscure the splendor of my Creator A Tree hath Boughs that emulate the height of Heaven as well as Roots that sink deep into the Ground and the deeper the Root lies the loftier commonly are the Branches so that he that aims at his own abasement at the same time doth what he can to Magnifie his Gracious Redeemer None deserves Glory so much as he that wants nothing and there is not a better Argument that he deserves it then this that he makes no profit of it He that Glorifies God to whom it is no advantage doth most of all advantage himself and he that gives all Honour to God and none to himself gets more by it then the most Ambitious Prince that engrosses all the Glory he can to his own Atchievements God's Glory and my Profit are Sisters and while I am not sparing in promoting the former the other comes in in course God makes nothing for his Glory but what is also profitable unto Man and Mans Emolument is so linked together with God's Glory that to seek to part them is to attempt to part Fire and Heat for the one is the necessary effect of the other As God can do nothing against his glory so his perfection and goodness do so necessarily go together that as the one challenges the Creatures giving him all the glory so the other cannot but work for the Creatures happiness Indeed that is only profitable to man which brings glory to God and the only way to mind our Profit is to endeavour after that which may advance Gods glory That man is idle and a superfluous Creature in the World that doth not seek Gods glory for this was the use the great use for which he was made a little lower than the Angels and if a mans profitableness be to be guessed from the end he was made for if he declines from that end he is altogether useless and scarcely deserves the name of a Creature The very being of a man imports a necessity of his advancing Gods glory and he that doth not study to advance it is more senseless than the man that seeks to warm himself with snow or the Painter that attempts to draw a Picture with a Saw of Iron we loose our selves if we seek not Gods glory and we consider not what we do if we make any farther use of created Beings than they are conducive to Gods glory All the Riches and Treasures of this World can do no good without I glorifie God with them and indeed I must count them all dross and dung If I will make them instrumental to advance Gods glory Whatever I think or speak or do must be dedicated to Gods glory at least that must be my general end and I cannot honour my self better than by giving God the honour due unto his name It is a mighty priviledge that God will give me leave to advance his glory and I know not how great a favour God intends me when he bids me to do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ giving thanks unto God and the Father through him It is a Dignity which the duller sort of Mankind are not aware of and were their eyes clearer they would strive who should exceed the other in magnifying infinite goodness If I aim at Gods Glory in all things I cannot be impatient in Adversity for as I have reason to believe that even my Crosses will advance Gods Glory so I must glorifie God in them by laying my hand upon my mouth and acknowledging him just in sending the affliction and magnifying his Mercy in that he did not send a greater If I must not seek things pleasant and profitable but only as they may tend to Gods Glory I dare not grumble under my Cross for I know not but I may glorifie God more by the Affliction than by Prosperity The Traveller that enquires for his way is not concern'd whether men bid him go this way or that way over the Plain or through a Wood but goes as he is directed and as long as God directs me to seek and advance his Glory it 's no great matter whether the way that leads to it be smooth or uneasie clean or dirty so it doth but lead me to the Mark I am to aim at The Patient desires health but cares not how he comes by it whether by bitter Potions or by sweeter Cordials and I do not really seek Gods Glory except I am indifferent whether I advance it by Riches or by Poverty by Good report or by Evil report The way I must leave to God and whether the Sea be rough or smooth that I must commit to his Wise Providence all my