seeke me diligently saying Come let vs returne to the Lord for he hath spoyled and he will heale vs c. And the same may bee confirmed by the examples of men in all ages who in their trouble doe call vpon the Lord. The Israelits though a rebellious people yet when the Lord slew them they sought him and they returned and sought God early Manasses though the most wicked of all the kings of Iudah yet when he was in tribulation being taken captiue and bound in chaines and carried to Babylon he prayed to the Lord his God and humbled himselfe greatly before the God of his fathers and prayed vnto him c. The prodigall sonne though he had runne a leaud course yet when he was pinched with penurie then hee did bethinke himselfe of returning home to his father and falling downe before him said Father I haue sinned against heauen and before thee c. And this is that which some doe well gather out of this text that God doth therefore afflict vs that we may call vpon him that calling vpon him we may be deliuered that being deliuered we may glorifie him Fourthly because the Lord many times doth therefore delay his helpe and deferre our deliuerance that our desire may be inflamed and our faith exercised as appeareth by the parables of the two friends Luke 11.5.8 and of the widdow and the judge and the scope thereof Luke 18. by the practise of the Lord with the Israelits Iudg. 10. to whose request hee would not at the first condiscend but when they persisted in prayer confessing and forsaking their sinne it is said that his soule was grieued for the affliction of Israel by the behauiour of our Sauiour Christ towards the woman which was a Canaanit for when she had cried after him to haue mercie on her because her daughter was miserably vexed with a diuell and our Sauiour aunswered not a word she notwithstanding persisted in calling vpon him insomuch that his disciples came vnto him and besought him saying Send her away for she crieth after vs And although he answered that he was not sent but to the lost sheepe of the house of Israel notwithstanding shee importuneth him againe and comming vnto him worshipped him saying Lord helpe me And hauing receiued another repulse our Sauiour answering that it was not meet to take the childrens bread and to cast it to whelpes she acknowledged her selfe to be such a one but yet expected such crums as it were from his table Whereupon our Sauiour Christ hauing tried her sufficiently commendeth her faith and graunteth her request And lastly because the Lord in this place hath not onely commaunded vs to call vpon him in the time of affliction but also hath promised to deliuer vs. And therefore in obedience to this commandement and in faith in this promise wee are to poure foorth our soules before the Lord in the day of affliction But some man will aske When is this day of affliction wherein we are to call vpon God Affliction is euery thing that crosseth our lawfull desires and that is either priuat or publicke priuat either belonging to our selues or to others to our selues either in our soules as the anguish of the soule for sinne which is the greatest affliction or other heauinesse and passions melancholike or in our bodies as sicknesse infirmitie hurts or wounds or in our goods as pouertie want losses debts or in our good name as infamie by euill reports or slaunders or in those that belong vnto vs as wife children and seruants To others as to our kinred friends acquaintance neighbours countreymen brethren in Christ as all Christians are to be esteemed of vs though forrainers in respect of place and in respect of affection not well minded to vs for such a sympathie there ought to bee betwixt those that are members of the same bodie politick but much more of the same mysticall bodie of Christ especially when other respects also concurre of kinred amitie acquaintance neighbourhood c. that in a fellow feeling and Christian compassion we should mourn when other members of the same bodie are afflicted When the affliction therefore belongeth to our selues we are in our owne behalfes to call vpon God when to others we are in tender compassion of their griefe to commend their cause to God in our prayers Dauid when those who indeed were his enemies were afflicted he humbled himselfe in fasting and prayer for them Psal. 35.13 In like sort he mourned and fasted for the death of Saule and Ionathan 1. Chron. 10. and also of Abner 2. Sam. 3. Publicke affliction is when the countrey the Church or Commonwealth is afflicted with any common calamitie as famine sword pestilence desolation captiuitie and such like Let vs therefore consider whether this present time be a time of affliction or not and if it be let vs know that this commaundement belongeth vnto vs and that the Lord calleth vs to fasting and prayer Be it that in respect of thy selfe and those that belong to thee thou hast no cause of mourning as who almost is free yet thy brethren thy sisters thy friends thy countreymen thy fellow members in the bodie of Christ are visited by the hand of God or the places of their dwelling at least infected with this contagious sickenesse Did Dauid fast and mourne and pray for his enemies when they were in affliction and doest not thou mourne for thy deare brethren and friends But though we had no priuat cause of griefe yet the common calamitie should most of all affect vs seeing the chiefe cities and many other places of the land the Lord shooting his arrowes on euery side are visited with the fearefull plague of pestilence What shall we thinke because we as yet through the goodnesse of God haue escaped this plague that therefore it is not a time of affliction wherein wee are to humble our selues before God by fasting and prayer Farre be it from vs that we should be so hard-hearted as that we should not take to heart the affliction of Ioseph or such vnnaturall members of the bodie politicke or vnsound and rotten members of the mysticall bodie of Christ as that when the chiefe citie and as it were the head of our countrey besides many other places and persons is so grieuously afflicted that we should not condole and mourne together with them and pray to God for them Or may we think that because our selues and perhaps also the places where we dwell are free that therefore this affliction and judgement doth not concerne vs yes beloued it doth neerely concerne vs. For that this affliction is laid vpon the land for sinne we need not doubt seeing the Scripture so oft doth teach that truth Behold sayth the Prophet Esay thou art angrie when we offend Dauid testifieth that the Lord with rebukes doth chastise men for sinne and Ieremie That men are punished for their sinnes insomuch that afflictions
strike vs or else as he hath threatned to lay his judgements vpon vs then doth the Lord especially call vs to fasting and mourning howbeit the chiefe cause of mourning must be not so much the consideration of the judgement it selfe whether present or imminent as the detestation of our sinne whereby we haue offended God and prouoked him either to threaten or to inflict that judgement vpon vs. Examples hereof we haue in respect of judgements imminent in the Niniuits who when destruction was threatned against them for their sinnes humbled themselues before God in fasting and prayer In Iosaphat who hearing of an inuasion attempted against him by the Moabits and Ammonits feared and set himselfe to seeke the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all Iudah In respect of afflictions and calamities present as famine sword pestilence captiuitie and such like messengers of Gods wrath we haue both commaundements as our rules and examples as precedents in this behalfe In the time of famine the Lord by his Prophet Ioel commandeth the Iewes to turne vnto him with all their heart and with fasting weeping and mourning And to that end he biddeth them to proclaime and sanctifie a fast And as touching the sword when the men of Ai had discomforted the Israelits Iosua and the elders of Israell fasted vntill the euen In the time of captiuitie Daniel greatly desired the deliuerance of the Iewes out of the captiuitie of Babylon at the end of seuentie yeares according to the promise of the Lord by the Prophet Ieremie he turned his face vnto the Lord God and sought by prayer and supplication with fasting and sackcloth and ashes And as touching sicknesse and mortalitie we haue a notable example in Dauid who when his child which hee had begotten in adulterie was sicke he besought God for it and fasted and went in and lay all night vpon the earth yea when some that prooued his enemies were sicke he professeth Psal. 35 that he clothed himselfe with sackcloth and humbled his soule with fasting and that he prayed for them with such compassion that hanging downe his head for griefe his prayer returned vpon his bosome And if fasting is to bee vsed for priuat persons when they are sicke much more in a publicke visitation and in the time of pestilence 15. These allegations therefore of holy Scripture may be sufficient directions for vs when we are to vndertake this exercise namely when we haue some vrgent cause of a more than ordinarie humbling of our selues before God in prayer And when such causes are offered we may not thinke that it is a thing meerely arbitrarie whether we will vse this exercise or not but by warrant of the former Scriptures we are to be persuaded that the Lord doth call vs to this exercise It is well said of Basill 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The time of fasting is not euerie mans will but the necessitie of those who come to Gods worship and in a time of such necessitie to fast it is necessarie When as therefore there is publike necessitie those which are in publicke authoritie must thinke that a necessitie is imposed vpon them to blow the trumpet in Sion and to proclaime a fast And those which are in priuat place must thinke a necessitie imposed on them to obserue and sanctifie the fast And if it happen that they which are in authoritie neglect this duty then those who according to the example of the faithfull Ezek. 9 which were marked to saluation doe mourne either for the common calamities or for the common enormities of the time which are forerunners of calamities they are to vse this exercise priuatly and secretly which also they are to do when their owne necessities require As for those who neither by publicke calamitie nor priuat necessitie can be drawne to this dutie but continually take care for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof they must know that they are but carnall mâ—n who as they sow to the flesh so of the flesh shall reape corruption 16. Thus we haue heard that the religious fast is a solemne exercise of religion to bee vndertaken of vs when we are humble suters to the Lord vpon some vrgent occasion Let vs now consider wherein this exercise doth consist which is expressed in the rest of the definition whereout we may gather that this exercise consisteth on two points viz. the outward or bodily and the inward or spirituall exercise The former being the means to the latter the latter being the end of the former for the bodily exercise profiteth little or nothing at all vnlesse it be referred to the spirituall exercise as a meanes to further it The bodily exercise is an outward abstinence from food and some other commodities and delights of this life and also from bodily labours and worldly businesse during the time of the fast which is a Sabbath of humiliation Here therefore we are to consider in respect of the outward exercise from what we are to abstaine and for how long 17. First we are to abstaine from food from whence the whole exercise hath his name And here we are to vnderstand not an abstinence in part nor a sober and abstemious vse of diet as I haue shewed before but a totall abstinence both from meat and drinke so farre as our health will permit for this is required to the nature of a fast as hath bene declared and further may bee proued by the examples of such fasts as are recorded in the scriptures Dauid when he fasted and mourned for the death of Abner swore that he would not tast bread or ought else till the Sunne were downe Ezra when he fasted for the sinne of the people he did neither eat bread that is not so much as bread nor drinke water that is not so much as water The fast which Esther required and performed was the totall abstinence from meat and drinke The Niniuits when they proclaimed a fast gaue a charge that none should tast any thing whether it were meat or drinke And of Paul it is sayd Acts. 9 that for the time of his fasting and prayer he did neither eat nor drinke That we should not thinke either that fasting is an abstinence from meat and not from drinke or that it standeth onely in choise of meats And yet this totall abstinence from meat and drinke is not so strictly required but that they whose health cannot beare it may for their necessarie sustenance take some little refreshing for the Lord who desireth mercie rather than sacrifice doth not so require this outward abstinence that it should impaire our health or make vs vnfit for his seruice in the spirituall exercise of the fast but that it might further vs therein But here we must take heed that we vse not this libertie as an occasion to the flesh pretending we cannot when
that fasteth for his sins and committeth them again who will heare his prayer or what doth his fasting helpe him 45. But for as much as Augustine saith It is but a slender fast to abstaine onely from sinne vnlesse we also adde good workes therefore wee must know it is our dutie especially on the day of the fast not only to eschew euill but also for the present to be exercised in well doing and for the time to come to purpose and to promise amendement The duties wherin we are to be exercised are both the duties of pietie and religion towards God which in the time of the fast are to be performed in a speciall manner and also the duties of loue and mercie towards our brethren as to execute true judgement to shew mercie and compassion euery man to his brother For is not this the fasting that I haue chosen sayth the Lord to loose the bands of wickednes to take off the heauie burthens and to let the oppressed goe free and that ye breake euery yoke Among the rest the dutie of almes-giuing and relieuing the poore is commended vnto vs as it followeth in the Prophet Is it not to deale the bread to the hungry and that thou bring the poore that wander vnto thine house When thou seest the naked that thou couer him and hide not thy selfe from thine owne flesh for so he calleth thy poore brother Then shall thy light breake forth c. then shalt thou call and the Lord will answere thou shalt crie and be will say here am I. If thou takest away from the middest of thee the yoke the putting foorth of the finger whereby is meant euen the least injuries and wicked speaking if thou poure out thy soule to the hungry that is if with the bowels of compassion thou doest relieue his need freely and chearefully and refresh the troubled soule then shall thy light spring out in the darkenesse and thy darkenesse shall be as the noone day that is thine aduersitie and affliction shall be turned into peace and prosperitie 46. Wherefore it hath beene and is the custome of the godly in the time of their fasts by doing workes of mercie and giuing almes to relieue the poore For as our Sauiour hath joyned the doctrine of these three together almes prayer and fasting so must we after the example of Cornelius joyne them in practise For as the Lord hath promised to shew mercie to the mercifull and to answere their crie so on the other side he that stoppeth his eare at the crying of the poore himselfe shall crie and not be heard And surely vnlesse we will fast for sparing after the manner of niggards who will be glad of so good a pretence to spare from their bellies to depriue their families of their ordinarie allowance for the increase of their worldly estate wee ought to giue so much to the poore as by our abstinence is saued Vt ieiunium tuum saith Ierome non sit lucrum marsupij sed saturitas animae that thy fast be not the gain of thy purse but the saturitie of thy soule For as Augustine sayth Then are our fasts acceptable to God when as they whom need doth force to fast are refreshed by vs. And againe Ieiunium tuum te castiget sed laetificet alterum Let thy fasting chastise thee but let it comfort another So fast that thou mayest be glad that thou hast dined in another that eateth by that meanes for the Lord loueth a chearefull giuer for when a poore man eateth of thine allowance in him Christ who affirmeth himselfe to be hungry in his poore members doth dine And elsewhere Accipiat esuriens Christus quod ieiunans minus accepit Christianus Let Christ being hungrie in his poore members receiue that which the fasting Christian hath spared Castigatio volentis fiat sustentatio non habentis Let the chastisement of him that hath and is willing to forbeare be the sustenance of him that hath not and faine would eat And to conclude Cyrill In a certaine booke sayth he we find it said of the Apostles Blessed is hee who fasteth to that end that he may feed the poore 47. And as we are thus for the present to be exercised so for the time to come we must vnfainedly purpose and faithfully promise amendement in performing duties heretofore omitted and in eschewing sinnes heretofore committed And to this purpose it shall bee needfull for the better setling of our resolution to bind our selues by a solemne vow and with the Iewes in the booke of Nehemiah to put our seales vnto it that so we may impose a necessitie vpon our selues of well doing and we are to know that it is a happie necessitie which forceth vs to better things The necessitie of this vnfained purpose to be had in this exercise is euident because without it wee remaine in our impenitencie And being impenitent sinners the Lord will not heare vs as the Lord threatened the impenitent Iewes When they fast sayth he I will not heare their crie Ierem. 14. And therefore vnlesse wee repent of our sinnes and resolue to amend this exercise which wee being suters vndertake for the obtaining of our sute is performed of vs in vaine For this wee are to know to be assured of That the Lord heareth not impenitent sinners Wherefore true is that saying though of an Apocryphall booke Prayer is good with fasting almes and righteousnesse 48. And thus we haue heard what the religious fast is and the parts also wherein it doth consist Now we are to consider the sorts of it for the religious fast is either priuat or publicke The priuat fast is that which is obserued priuatly as the fast of some one man or of a priuat familie And this is to be vndertaken either for priuat or publicke causes for priuat concerning either our selues and those that belong to vs so fasted Annah 1. Sam. 1. Cornelius Act. 10. Dauid 2. Sam. 12 or others as Dauid for those that prooued his enemies and Darius though an heathen for Daniell when he was cast into the Lyons den But we are to fast priuatly not onely vpon priuat occasions but much more vpon publicke causes For as it is the dutie of the faithfull priuatly to mourne for publicke calamities and common corruptions which ordinarily are the fore runners of common calamities so also they may fast therefore And such was the fast of Nehemiah chap. 1. and of Daniel chap. 9. In priuat fasts our Sauiour Christ requireth that they be so secretly performed as that vnto men we may not seeme to fast but onely to our heauenly father who seeing in secret will reward vs openly And for as much as the day of the fast hath the nature of a Sabbath wherein we are to cease from bodily labors and worldly businesse therefore those which bee vnder the gouernment of