Selected quad for the lemma: heart_n
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A26068
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A method of daily devotion fitted to the meanest capacities / by W. Assheton.
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Assheton, William, 1641-1711.
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1697
(1697)
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Wing A4035; ESTC R27663
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8,884
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48
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forgive them Comfort all those who are any ways afflicted or distressed in Mind Body or Estate Give them patience under their Sufferings and a happy issue out of all their Afflictions These mercies and whatever else thou knowest to be most convenient for us we do humbly beg in the name and for the sake of Christ Jesus our only Mediator and Intercessor who hath taught us thus to pray Our Father c. Prayers being finished as you go first out of your Doors or as you return into the House say Lord Bless my going out and my coming in from this time forth for evermore Psal 121. 8. When you harness your Horses or take the Plough into your hand or begin any other Work say Prosper thou the work of my hands O Lord O prosper thou my handy-work Psalm 90. 17. HAving thus commended your selves to God you are now under his Care and Protection And may comfortably expect his Blessing upon you and yours Which he for his part will most certainly grant provided that you lead the rest of the Day according to this beginning In order to which be very careful First of your Thoughts IF any idle wandering and impertinent Thoughts any wanton lustful and lascivious Thoughts any envious murthering and malicious Thoughts shall arise in your hearts then presently reject them by thinking upon something else and say Lord cleanse the Thoughts of my heart by the inspiration of thy holy Spirit Secondly Take heed of your Words 1. BEware of horrid Cursing and profane Swearing And do not think to excuse such Extravagance by saying I was Provok'd or I am naturally Passionate It is my Temper and I cannot help it Which in plain English is this I have a mind to Curse and to Swear and I will do it Know therefore that God hath given you Reason and the Grace of his Holy Spirit whereby to curb your Natures and restrain your vicious Inclinations both in this and every other Instance 2. To be noted for Lying besides the Sin and Guilt in respect of God will make you useless to the World No Body will trust you Or if they can help it will ever meddle with you I advise you therefore Children and Servants when you have committed a fault do not dare to excuse it with a Lye but confess it freely And then both your Parents and Masters if they are prudent Persons will more chearfully forgive you 3. Let no filthy Communication proceed out of your Mouth Avoid all obscene lascivious Discourse as you would the Plague for 't is as infectious and kindles such a fire of Lust as without repentance will certainly bring you to the fire of Hell 4. Avoid that pratling Gossipping Humour of talking about other Mens matters and censuring their Affairs But study to be quiet and to do your own Business And if Religion will not restrain you then be admonished in point of prudence that Silence is soon answered For the better regulating of your Actions OBserve that Golden Rule of our Blessed Saviour Whatsoever you would that men should do to you do ye even so to them Matth. 7. 12. Let this teach you to be true and just in all your Dealings To be very punctual and exact in all your Promises and Bargains Not to go beyond or defraud your Brother in any matter for the Lord is the avenger of all such 1 Thess 4. 6. 2. Take heed of excessive Drinking which too often concludes your Bargains And if your head shall be stronger than your Neighbours then to abuse his Weakness and to impose upon him under such Circumstances is a very base and dishonest practice 3. Beware of immoderate Anger or as you phrase it of being in Passion the consequents of which are many times dismal and amazing For you may do that in the height of a Provocation which if it doth not cut you off in the midst of your Days will bring your gray hairs with sorrow to the Grave When therefore your Children or your Servants have committed a fault be not either too rash or too severe in your Censures but treat them with Reason and argue the Case calmly with them And if after fair Admonitions they will not regard you then it will be prudent to dismiss such Servants and correct your Children 4. Let young Persons be admonished to flee youthful Lusts and to take heed of all filthy polluting practices which are very displeasing to a pure and holy God Remember your Baptismal vow In which you did renounce the carnal desires of the flesh so that you will not follow nor be led by them Where observe You did not promise never to have those Desires for whilst you are young and healthful it cannot be otherwise But you only promised not to follow nor be led by them i. e. not to gratifie those Desires and Inclinations in any unlawful way not to be led and prompted by them to commit any Sin or to do any thing which God hath forbidden If therefore after Prayers Fasting hard Labour and other Methods of Mortification you are still troublesom and uneasy then make use of the last Remedy which becomes a Duty to those who cannot live innocently without it I shall commend it to you in St. Paul's words If they cannot contain let them Marry for it is better to Marry than to burn 1 Cor. 7 9. Marriage is honourable in all and the Bed undefiled But Whoremongers and Adulterers God will judge Heb. 13. 4. Being tempted to uncleanness or any other Sin lift up your heart unto God and say O Thou who art faithful do not suffer me to be tempted above that I am able but with the Temptation also make a way to escape that I may be able to bear it 1 Cor. 10. 13. 5. Take heed and beware of COVETOVSNESS Luke 12. 15. For the love of Money is the root of all evil which while some coveted after they have erred from the Faith and pierced themselves through with many Sorrows 1 Tim. 6. 10. Be not deceived nor Thieves nor COVETOVS nor Extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God 1 Cor. 6. 9 10. From these and many other places of Scripture you are plainly convinced That Covetousness is a most perplexing and destructive practice And as such would more carefully be avoided by you were it not so difficult to convince you of your guilt For should I propose this Question to every Individual in the whole Parish Are you guilty of this Sin of Covetousness I should doubtless find a great number of frugal careful provident Persons but not a Covetous man amongst you all And therefore for your conviction I shall briefly shew you what Covetousness is and when a man may be truly said to be guilty of that Sin COVETOVSNESS is an irregular unlawful Desire of geting and keeping wealth Now your Desires are then irregular and unlawful when they do transgress those bounds and limits which Almighty God by his Laws hath prescribed to them For
God who is a God of Order hath establish'd this method Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness Mat. 6. 33. Whether ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do do all to the Glory of God 1 Cor. 10. 31. Intimating That the chief end and design the great business for which you are sent into the World it is to Glorife God by saving of your Souls And therefore when God is dishonour'd and the welfare of your Souls is neglected then are your desires or your actions irregular and unlawful Particularly If these Desires shall once prompt you to cozen and cheat and defraud your Neighbour in any instance whatsoever As By telling Lyes to help out a good Bargain By false Weights and Measures By not paying Servants and Workmens wages By not discharging just Debts when it is in your power but keeping other mens Money to their prejdiuce that you your selves may trade with it In these and many other Instances you are apparently Covetous Nay further Though you can truely affirm as you often boast that you never wronged any man living But are most just and punctual in all your dealings and were never worse than your word Yet if your desire of getting an Estate shall be so eager that you shall neglect the Duties of Religion If for instance you cannot stay to say your Prayers in a Morning for fear of neglecting your work And if when you come into God's House there to attend his immediate Service you are then thinking of your worldly Concerns how you may turn your Penny and contrive your Affairs to the best Advantage if the Festivals and Fasts of the Church those Market-days for your Souls shall be a burthen to you saying with those in the Prophet When will the New-Moon be gone that we may sell Corn and the Sabbath that we may set forth Wheat Amos 8. 5. If the care and concern for your Bodies which should be subordinate to that of your Souls shall be thus preferr'd before it your desires are then irregular and unlawful and you are evidently guilty of this Sin of Covetousness Nay yet further Though your Estates may be very honestly gotten yet if you do not use them as you ought nor employ them to those ends for which they were given you are still Covetous Now the only end of wealth is to supply our occasions and to enable us to do good both to our selves and others He therefore that lives meanly and below his Estate when there is no reason so to do That shall pinch and pine his own body by denying it those necessary refreshments it wants That shall neglect the Education and the Marriage of his Children as resolving to part with his Money and his Life together Finally He who shall transgress that most necessary Duty of being charitable to the Poor and relieving those that are in Distress his Gold and his Silver for want of use is cankered and the rust of them shall be a witness against him James 5. 3. Let your Conversation be without Covetousness and be content with such things as ye have for he hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee Heb. 13. 5. Be careful for nothing but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God and the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus Phil. 4. 6 7. Being return'd home in the Evening and your work being finished before you go to Bed let the Master of the Family again call his Houshold together And I wish I could perswade you every night to read some portion of Holy Scripture But lest that should seem too great a burden upon the Week-day I shall reserve it as a proper Task for the Lord's-day and the Festivals of the Church for the due observation of which I do purpose God willing to give you particular Directions in another Paper However though you may want time or are too much wearied to read in your Bible yet pray do not omit to commend your selves to God's Protection in this or the like manner Evening Prayer for a Family ALmighty and Everlasting God and in Jesus Christ our most Merciful and Gracious Father We thy poor unworthy Creatures do most humbly present our selves before thee to confess our sins and to beg thy pardon To acknowledge thy mercies and to bewail our abuses of them We have transgressed our Duty to Thee our Neighbour and our selves And that both in Thought in Word and in Deed by doing those Things which thou hast expresly forbidden and by neglecting those Duties thou hast commanded us And this not only through Ignorance and Frailty but sometimes knowingly and wilfully with repeated vows and resolutions to the contrary Nay O Lord we have despised that Goodness of thine which should lead us to Repentance hardning our hearts against all those means which thou hast used for our amendment And now Lord what can we expect having done these Things but to be utterly abhorred and forsaken by thee that is indeed the due reward of our sins But O Lord there is mercy with thee that thou mayst be feared O fit us for that mercy by giving us a deep and hearty Repentance a sincere Contrition a true sorrow for and perfect hatred of all our sins with a firm resolution to forsake them And then according to thy Goodness let thine anger and thy wrath be turned away from us Look upon us in thy Son our Blessed Saviour and for the Merits of his Sufferings pardon all our Sins And since we are not able of our selves so much as to think one good Thought we beseech thee to work in us both to will and to do according to thy good pleasure And by the Grace of thy Holy Spirit do thou so renew and purify our hearts that we may become new Creatures utterly forsaking every evil way and living in constant sincere universal Obedience to thee all the rest of our Days Make us humble and modest patient and submissive chaste and temperate just and righteous kind and charitable diligent in our Callings and zealous for thy Glory That so having behaved our selves as good and faithful Servants we may by thy mercy at the last be received into the joy of our Lord. And we desire thou knowest the good of all Mankind as well as our own Particularly we implore thy Mercies towards these Kingdoms wherein we live Remember not Lord our Offences nor the Offences of our Forefathers but spare us good Lord and have patience with us if perhaps we may bring forth better Fruit becoming thy holy Gospel and all the care thou hast taken about us Lord save and defend the King and establish his Throne in Righteousness that we may see many happy days under his Government Bless him and us in all his Relations in his Council in all the Nobility Clergy Gentry and Commonalty That every one of them may