Righteous in all thy Works Just and True in all thy ways and stedfastly believing that in very Faithfulness thou hâ—st caused us to be troubled Nay even to Bless and Praise thy holy Name amidst the greatest 〈◊〉 that thou dost so far condescend to take Notice of us worthless Creatures as to punish us with thine own hand and chasten us with afflictions that we should not be condemned with the sinfuâ—â— World O how know we but we are more indebted to thee for thy Corrections than for thy more Apparent favours and Benefits and shall we then murmur and be impatient under them God forbid Convince us rather Good Lord that whom thou Lovest thou Chastenest and Correctest every Son whom thoâ— Receivest that if we are without Chastisements then are we bastards and not Sons Convince us that 't was through many Tribulations that the Glorious Company of the Apostles that the Noble Army of Martyrs made their Entranâ—â— into the Kingdom of Heaven that it was through such violences that they took it as it were by force Remind us that 't was through Sufferings that our blessed Saviour was made perfect that He himself went not up to Joy efore he first suffer'd Pain that He enter'd not into Glory before he was Crucified O make us in Conformity to him the Captain of our Salvation patiently to charge thorough all Adversities Losses and Disappointments till we arrive at the mark for the prize of our high calling in Christ Give us holy Father to lye Prostrate at thy feet whenever thou contendest with us let us Repent to the Amendment of our evil ways and not Repine at those smarting Sufferings which tend to Rebuke our foolish forsaking Thee the Author of our Blessedness let us be dumb with a silent Reverence whenever thy heavy hand of Chastisement is upon us O cause us then in all lowliness and Humility to submit to thyProvidence to make diligent Search after the Accursed thing for which thou art Displeas'd with us to Kiss thy Rod of Correction and Learn that Reforming Lesson which it dictates lest otherwise it Breaks us in pieces and there be none to Deliver us O Suppress in us all Repining thoughts and make us drink chearfully the cup of Affliction how bitter soever it is we shall have reason to Thank thee O Lord for it if it proves Medicinal to our Souls O make it such we entreat thee Let this be the use of Temporal Calamities their weaning our Affections from the Vanities below their Raising and Setling our desires on the infinitely more valuable things Above their rendering us Meek Humble Contented Resign'd that so our Faith Hope and Patience may be found in the Day of our Lord Laudable Glorious and Honourable and that being Afflicted for a season we may be endlesly comforted Amen Blessed Saviour Amen Meditation X. On Love to God 'T IS our Duty and 't is our Interest and Priviledge our Duty we being commanded to Love him with all our hearts souls and strengths and our Interest for what greater Love to our selves than to Love the fountain of all Loveliness than to Love him in whom are compriz'd all those Excellencies in infinite Degrees which Scatteringly and imperfectly reside in the Creatures and yet render them Amiable and Admired Nothing is more Reasonable also than to Love God a being so transcendently Good in himself so Gracious and Loving unto us for to Him we owe all the powers of our Bodies all the noble faculties of our Souls all that we Are all that we have comes Entirely from him we should be very ungrateful persons should we Love any thing so well as him much more should we Love any thing Above him for he hath not only created us doth not only preserve and provide for us Comforts as well as Necessaries but he hath also dearly Redeem'd us from everlasting Destruction not with corruptible things such as Silver and Gold but with no Less a Ransom than the precious Bloodshed of his Dear Son God Co-equal with the Father He hath likewise Sanctified us with the Regeneration of his blessed Spirit Thus hath God not only provided us all the Coveniences of this life but also all things appertaining to a Better has given us Spiritual Blessings as well as Corporal means of Grace and hopes of Glory So that He hath layd on us the Strongest obligations to Love him and if any thing else in the whole Creation is Lovely much more Eminently so is the Divine Majesty who is owner of all his Creatures Lovelyness and of Infinite more If Beauty is an object of Love behold God the most beautiful Being in whom dwells perfection of Comelyness If Riches are attractives of Esteem and Valuation behold the Deity the Treasury of all Wealth and of whatever is valuable If pleasure is a thing Lovely and desirable behold in God's presence Fullness of Joy and at his Right hand pleasures for Evermore Sure I must hate my self if I Love not God for therein consists my Wellfare and Happyness Shall I love other things and not Him from whom they Borrowed their Lovelyness Shall I Love the Stream and not the Fountain of blessedness What Joy do I deprive my self of if I Love not God If I hate not all other things in comparison of him He that Loveth Father or Mother sayes our Blessed Saviour more than me is not worthy of me and he that Loveth Son or Daughter the most Near and Dear things more than me is not worthy of me O who know the Enravishing Delights but those who have experienced them of Loving the Deity and being beloved by him of holding such Sweet Communion with the God of all Consolation It is a very Great Favour and Condescension that the Majesty of Heaven and Earth will Admit of our imperfect Love will Graciously Accept it for 't is imperfect though never so Sincere 't is finite Love though never so Seraphical What an inconceivable Honour is it to be vouchsafed the Loving our Creator 'T is certain we can have no better Object no one so Good the benefit of Loving God redounds wholly to our selves not at all to him However I will Love the Lord not so much for my own Ends as because he hath Commanded my Love as because he is a supereminently Amiable Being infinitely Deserving my Love as because 't is a Debt due from me a Dependant Creature to my Maker and the Author of all my Enjoyments I will Delight in Loving and Obeying him as long as I live and I by his Grace will Evidence the Truth of my Love by paying an Universal Respect unto all his Commandments Amen Amen The Prayer O Thou Supream Excellency whom to know is Life Eternal whom to Love is Heaven upon Earth Thou Being infinitely Lovely in thine own Nature Exceeding kind nad Loving unto us manifest thy self more and more unto us that we may Love Thee more and more and that Loving Thee with increase we may Enjoy Thee in a
Imprimatur Geo. Royse RRmo in Christo Patri ac Dom. Dom. Johanni Archiep. Cantuar. a Sacris Domest Januar. 17 169â— Conversation in Heaven BEING DEVOTIONS Consisting of MEDITATIONS and PRAYERS ON Several Considerable Subjects in Practical Divinity Written for the Raising the Decay'd Spirit of PIETY By LAWRENCE SMITH LLD. Fellow of St. John's College in Oxford LONDON Printed by J. R. for Thomas Speed at the Three Crowns near the Royal Exchange in Cornhill 1693. TO The most Reverend Father in God JOHN Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Primate and Metropolitan of all England and one of Their Majesties most Honourable Privy-Council May it please your Grace I Beg your Pardon for my Presumption in Dedicating this Performance to your Name but my Experience of your Goodness and Obliging Temper has encouraged me to this freedom of Recommending it to your Patronage My Lord 't was not an Ambition of appearing in Print which induced me to this Publication but an hearty Desire since I am not in a Publick Station to do all the Good I can in my Private Capacity and if this Endeavour may but prove Instrumental to the encrease of Piety and Devotion in any I shall not Repent my Pains but acknowledge the Success with all Thankfulness to God's Glory May the Almighty long preserve your Grace and make you a great Blessing to this Church which is the earnest Prayer of My Lord Your Grace's most Obedient Son and humbly devoted Servant Lawrence Smith THE PREFACE TO THE READER Christian Reader THE Subjects here treated on are some of the weightiest and most considerable in all Practical Divinity and being Matters of the greatest Importance to a good Life and consequently to our future Everlasting Welfare were therefore industriously handled with all imaginable Plainness and Perspicuity that Persons of all Ranks and Qualities being nearly concern'd in them they might accordingly lye Level to the Capacities of all men The Author is not Ignorant that several excellent Treatises of this Nature have been transmitted into publick View and Consideration which though he has not the Vanity to think he has excell'd yet he hopes this further Help to Devotion may not be without its proper Vsefulness The Composer of these Devotions is indeed conscious of his inability to Gratifie the Expectations of a nicely Critical Reader but however he had much rather expose himself to the Censures of the Over-curious than fail of promoting in the least the Piety and Devotion of â—ruly Religious and well-disposed People To such he Writes who having a Spiritual discerning of Spiritual things these Spiritual Exercises of Prayer and Holy Meditation are the likeliest to prove Relishing and Acceptable unto them Devout and Pious Meditation is that which at once Delights and Profits Recreates and improves in Goodness rendering the Mind by degrees of a Godlike Celestial Temper It ennobles the faculties of our Souls by making them conversant about truly Great and Noble Objects things Spiritual Divine and Heavenly It withdraws us from the Noise and Tumult exempts us from the Cares Fears Troubles and Vexations of this Lower World and causing us to dwell much in our thoughts and desires Above it makes our Spirits too Big and Haughty too Nice and Delicate for any impure sublanary Enjoyments nay of such an Indifferency of Affection even to this Worlds Innocent and Allowable Gratifications as that no Loss or Detriment which befalls them no imaginary Excellency which is in them is able to Excite our Passions to Discompose our Thoughts to abate our Religious Diligence to weaken our Faith impair our Trust or so much as Cool our Love for God Holiness and Celestial Happiness All other things Cloy and Satiate with their often Repeated use but the more we exercise this most Excellent Duty devout Contemplation the more shall we desire to be still exercised therein Its Pleasures will grow upon our Hands and we shall find no Sensual Entertainment half so Quick and Relishing our Vnderstandings will be hereby Enlarged and Exalted our Wills Rightly Byassed and Inclined our Affections Purified and Refined and our whole Spiritual Powers Disintangled from the Depraving Profits and Delights of this inferiour Animal Life and Refreshed with new varieties of a lively prospect into the Joys Celestial which are Pure Sincere Holy and Intellectual Let us then in frequent Solemn Meditation on the Divine most Amiable Perfections the very Life and Employment of Angels become more exact Representations of the Divine Purity and Holiness Let us Spiritualize our Minds Becalme our Passions Deaden and Suppress our Appetites to all Earthly Pomps and Vanities and then neither this World's Honours Profits or Pleasures shall seduce and soften us nor shall its Changes and Mischances Grieve and Disquiet us but being Exalted in our Devout Conversation to Regions whither the Storms and Tempests of this Lower State never reach we shall enjoy an undisturbed Peace and Tranquillity nay a delightsom Enravishment of Mind while Living and when we Dye shall go whither our Pious Thoughts Holy Desires Zealous Endeavours Fervent Prayers and Grateful Thanksgivings went before to prepare us Mansions even into the Heavenly Jerusalem Of which that we may be all Inheritors is the Hearty Prayer of him who earnestly desires thy Spiritual and Eternal wellfare L. Smith The CONTENTS Meditation I. ON the Vanity Vexation and Contempt of the World page 1 The Prayer p. 14 Meditation II. On the Redemption of Time p. 17 The Prayer p. 28 Meditation III. On the Folly and Danger of deferring Repentance p. 32 The Prayer p. 41 Meditation IV. On the Malignity and Evil Nature of Sin p. 45 The Prayer p. 60 Meditation V. On Watchfulness against Sin and Temptations p. 65 The Prayer p. 73 Meditation VI. Against the Sin of Pride p. 77 The Prayer p. 85 Meditation VII Against the Sin of Vnchastity p. 89 The Prayer p. 97 Meditation VIII Against the sin of Immoderate Anger p. 101 The Prayer p. 114 Meditation IX Against the sin of Murmuring and Impatience amidst Divine Chastisements p. 119 The Prayer p. 129 Meditation X. On Love to God p. 135 The Prayer p. 140 Meditation XI On Zeal in the Service of God p. 145 The Prayer p. 151 Meditation XII On Trust in God p. 155 The Prayer 162 Meditation XIII On the Fear of God p. 166 The Prayer p. 176 Meditation XIV On Love and Charity to our Neighbour p. 179 The Prayer p. 197 Meditation XV. On Improvement in Grace p. 202 The Prayer p. 211 Meditation XVI On Death p. 215 The Prayer p. 225 Meditation XVII On the Last Judgment p. 229 The Prayer p. 240 Meditation XVIII On Heaven p. 244 The Prayer p. 253 Meditation XIX On Hell and the Eternity of its Torments p. 258 The Prayer p. 271 Meditation XX. On Prayer and the Powerful Efficacy thereof p. 276 The Prayer p. 291 A Prayer for the Morning p. 298 A Prayer for the Evening p. 311 A Prayer for a Sick Person p. 320 Another Prayer for the
all probability renders his Distemper desperate and incurable To delay Amendment and continue in Sin with intent of quitting it hereafter is to wound our Consciences with the stings and remorses of Guilt on purpose of healing them again some time hence 'T is to refuse to do what is in our power and to defer the doing it till it may be out of our power 't is to make our future work of Repentance much greater more grievous and difficult than it would be at present and yet to hope to set about it more Advantagiously in time to come 'T is to increase our Task to lessen both our Will and Ability to perform it with and yet to think to perform it better under these Disadvantages To defer Conversion is to persist becoming vain in our Imaginations erroneous in our Elections corrupt in our Performances that afterwards we may become Wise and retract with Bitterness of Self-condemning thoughts our former vain Judgments wrong Choices evil Practices that we may upon change of Mind Will and Affections call our selves fools a thousand times for our former wicked goings astray and may be ashamed of may abhor and grieve for our past Impieties as much as ever heretofore we loved and delighted in them all these Absurdities and Foilies Delay of Repentance implies 'T is a refusing to become well and safe and happy at present and a referring our spiritual Welfare our everlasting safety and happiness to the hazardous uncertainties of Futurity But do we act thus imprudently in other Affairs of far lesser moment No certainly when Sick we delay not the use of means for our Recovery when Maim'd or Wounded we apply our selves immediately to a Cure but when sick with Sin nigh unto death Eternal when wounded in Mind by the Rebukes of Guilt contracted and maimed in all the Faculties of our Souls by the disorders of Impiety so that from the Crown of the head to the sole of the feet there is no whole part in us yet here we hug our Distemper seem unwilling to be cured at present and defer the healing remedy Repentance till some further season but ah that we should be so wise and provident in Temporals and so careless and inconsiderate in Spirituals Ah that we should be so much concern'd for the Body and so little for the Soul Oh that men should judge it too early to become instantly secure of endless Salvation when they are not secure of living till to morrow till the next moment Vain inadvertent Wretches That they should be daily a dying hourly subject to Death and yet promise themselves some years hence the making sure of Eternal Life Certainly they know not what it means of what value and importance it is that they thus stupidly neglect it Ah can they think God will lengthen out that Life which is a design'd Course of Audacious Defiance and wicked Rebellion against him Ah can they think he will so unweariedly wait to be Gracious unto them Alas they consider not what Bonds and Fetters an Evil Custom puts upon the Soul how frequent Acts of doing wickedly improve into a confirm'd habit and an habit of Impiety becomes a second Nature almost unrelinquishable and yet do they imagine they shall be freer to break loose from Sin after a long-continued Bondage thereunto That their Chains of Iniquity will be the easier shaken off after they are Rivited by Custom and Inveteracy of wicked Practice Can we make too much haste to be Saved To get out of a state liable to Eternal Death and Condemnation into a state of Divine Grace and Favour Are our Minds Wills and Affections likely to be softer more melting and impressible with the sorrows of Repentance after they are Harden'd through the Deceitfulness of continued sinning Will God's Grace the more abound towards us the more we abound in Transgressing against him What Surety hast thou impenitent Delayer but thy day of Grace may be ended before the day of thy Life But that not Believing and Repenting at present hereafter may be too Late He that Believeth and Repenteth not says our Saviour is condemned Already The Irreversible Sentence may be Pronounc'd on thee here though Executed in another World Repent Hereafter Why dost thou consider what Hereafter means It imports the utmost Hazard and Uncertainty In reckoning on Futurity thou reckonest on a thing out of thine own Power and only in God Almighty's Disposal for the Grace of Repentance as all other Graces is the Divine Gift and He who has promised pardon to the Penitent has no where told us we can be penitent when we Please On the contrary God has inform'd us that 't is his Spirit which works in us both to Will and to do of his Own Good pleasure and canst thou think he will work it though never so long Resisted in the endeavour That his Divine Patience will never be tired the Treasures of his Long-suffering be never exhausted The Holy Scripture indeed tells us God waits to be Gracious but how Long he waits we are not acquainted on the contrary it is written My Spirit shall not Always strive with manâ— To Day if you will hear his voice harden not your hearts Seek the Lord while he may be found call upon hiâ— while he is near What can be thâ— meaning of these places of Sacreâ— Writ but that if we neglect thiâ— present Accepted time hereafteâ— may be an unacceptable one buâ— that if we hear not Now God's Voice calling us to Repentance he may hereafter refuse to hear our Voice calling to him for Grace Mercy and Acceptance But that if we neglect the instant Season of seeking the Lord while he may be found and calling upon him while he is near there may and will come a time when he will not be found a season when he will be afar off with his Divine help and Assistance and when as holy David says in the great water-floods in the time of our bitterest Distress and Calamity we shall not come nigh him Read Proverbs the First the 28 and 29 verses God despises that Death bed Repentance when men leave sin meerly because sin must leave them because they can keep that and the World no longer when being by constraint a going hence they desire to go unto God rather than into the place of Torments prepared for the Devil and his Angels But no imposing upon Omnisciency The searcher of Hearts sees that such a forsaking of sin is forced imperfect flowing from no right Principle and therefore he values it not Ah there is a time when God leaves sinners to themselves when they will not by any means be perswaded to leave their sins There is a certain measure of God's Grace and of man's Impieties after which the Holy Spirit withdraws himself and will not any longer be entreated And how knowest thou persevering Impenitent but that if thou neglectest Grace and the season thereof Now the measure of thy sins may hereafter be compleated and both
thy allowance of Grace and the opportunity of making use of it may be over with thee Which God grant that it may not be Amen Amen The Prayer MOST Merciful Father Patitient and Long-suffering who waitest to be Gracious and yet whose Spirit will not always strive with obstinate impenitent sinners dost Thou O Lord call unto us Behold Now is the Accepted Time behold Now is the Day of Salvation and do we cry to morrow is soon enough some Days or Years hence will be as Acceptable a time as this present one Ah Mad-men that we are Ah foolish Self-deceiving Creatures who should know best the Day of our Salvation Thou our God the Author of it or We Who should know best how Long thy Spirit will strive with us How Long Thou wilt wait to be Gracious O cause us to Day while 't is call'd to Day to hear thy voice and not harden our hearts against thy Invitations to Repentance Convince us blessed Lord in order to a present amendment that 't is some degree of hardening our hearts not to hearken to thy Voice this Day That every continuance in sin is one Advance more towards final Impenitence a rendering our future Conversion the more Grievous and Difficult and our Confirmation in wickedness the Greater and nearer to irretrievable And in a sense of all this make us we beseech thee to Retire out of the ways of Iniquity immediately For would we be willing to be surprized by Death Judgment and Eternal Torments in an Impenitent State Would we be willing to be summon'd before thy Judgment-seat to give an Account of our Stewardship before our Accompts are duely Stated and made up If we would not O cause us then to give all Diligence at present to make our Calling and Election Sure to work the Religious work for which we were sent into this World while 't is Day before the Night of Death cometh wherein 't is impossible to work out our Salvation Is there Lord any one of us but would willingly Repent and turn unto Thee sometime before he Dyes because otherwise he knows he cannot be saved but who of us can be sure he shall Repent before Death that delays the work till to morrow For who can tell what a Day may bring forth Cause us therefore Gracious God to live every day as if it were to be our last for that we know not but it may be such Cause us to live so at present as we shall wish we had done when we come to Dye O grant we may not Dye with any Guilt upon our Consciences or any known sin unrepented of Grant that we may not put far from us the Evil Day and thereby flatter our selves into a state of impenitence and endless Destruction but give us Grace to use well the means of Grace and improve the opportunities of Salvation while they are mercifully afforded us lest we provoke thee our God to swear in thy wrath that such obstinate sinners shall never enter into thy Rest Let holy Father the uncertainty of the time of our Saviour's coming to Judgment either to the universal one or that of each particular person soon after his Death make every one of us live in a continual Readiness and Preparation for it that we may not have our Oyl of Grace to seek our Lamp of an holy Conversation to Trim and Replenish when we should enter in with the Bridegroom of our Souls Christ Jesus into his Marriage-Feast But grant that at what Season soever our Lord comes to call us to an Account of the Talents committed to our trust he may behold all our Debts to his Divine Justice ready Cancell'd by our Repentance through the Merits of his Blood and finding us perseveringly employ'd in Good Works he may say unto us Well done Good and Faithful Servants Enter ye into your Master's Joy Amen blessed Jesu Amen Meditation IV. On the Malignity and Evil Nature of Sin O Sin how common art thou and yet how little understood How Common and therefore how little Dreaded and Abhorr'd Did men consider and understand thee more they would sure Love and Practice thee Less Alass they consider not thy direct opposition to God's Soveraign Authority Rectitude of Will and purity of Divine Essence thy contrariety to the Laws of Nature of Reason and of Grace How thou art a Violation of God's Revealed Will and Pleasure in the Sacred Scriptures Writings which contain nothing but precepts Holy Just and Good and which consequently 't is our greatest Interest and Advantage as well as Bounden-Duty to observe and our greatest Disadvantage as well as Disobedience to break and violate They consider not Sin how opposite thou art to their own Personal Welfare and Happiness Temporal Spiritual and Eternal how Degrading and Defiling to their Souls and Consciences what an Ignominy and Reproach to our Understandings what a Violence and Affront to our Reasons what a perversion and wrong-byass of our Wills and Affections what a cause of Regret and Disquietude of Mind to those who voluntarily Commit thee how offensive to God how injurious to Man how prejudicial to the Common Order Peace and Prosperity of the Universe What an ungrateful Return thou art to the Divine Goodness Patience and Forbearance how thou art an offering despite to the Spirit of Holiness a Grieving a Quenching a total Driving it away from us a Crucifying afresh the blessed Son of God a Treading him under foot and accounting the Blood of the New-Covenant an unholy thing a Rejection of all the Merciful Terms and offers of Gospel-Reconciliation a rendering the means and instruments of begetting Grace in us ineffectual a choosing Death Eternal Death rather than Life Eternal Life a wilful Treasuring up of Wrath against the day of Wrath and Revelation of the Righteous Judgment of a provok'd offended Deity All this and much more the Commission of known voluntary Sin implies and can we be so irrational so Vile and Dis-ingenuous so even like Beasts before God as to continue practicing vicious Impurity with Greediness after having thus weigh'd and consider'd how Evil how bitter and Lothsom a thing it is Oh is there no knowledge no understanding in the Workers of Impiety is there no Shame no Fear no Regard in them to their Everlasting Salvation that they drink down Iniquity like Water and Rush into the occasions of their own Ruin into the performance of all Wickedness as the War-Horse rusheth into the Battle fearlessly and inconsiderately Ah Vice how stupifying a thing art thou What a polluter first of our Souls and Consciences and after long Custom of sinning what a layer of them Asleep what an hardener of our hearts through thy continued and dayly advancing deceitfulness Thou Wickedness art pleasurable indeed in the Act but alass how transient the Act how vain and inconsiderable the pleasure whereas the after-Memory of thee is tormenting and much more exquisite much more Durable a Pain than thy vicious Enjoyment was a Delight
beat down Satan under our feet we are beset with Spiritual Enemies we have no might to help our selves against the Great Company of Temptations which dayly assault us our eyes are only upon thee from whom alone cometh our Health and Salvation Help Lord or we perish help or we are Ruin'd Eternally stretch forth thy Right hand to save us or we sink in the waves of vicious Allurements which so impetuously beat against us O be Thou pleased to speak those Tempests into a Calm do Thou either Restrain the unruly waters of strife sinful Assaults which aâ—â— ready to come in even unto our Souls or else Assist and bear us up that they may not overwhelm us Suffer us noâ— O Lord to be Tempted above that 〈◊〉 are Able but together with the Temptation make a way to escape that we may resolutely withstand it and having done all may stand O make us diligent in all our Duties watchful against all Temptations that they never become a snare to catch and entangle us but cause us to Resist manfully according to our Baptismal Engagement the World the Flesh and the Devil striving against sin against alâ— wicked Enticements Provocations and Opportunities leading thereunto And in all our pious conflicts makes us more than Conquerors through Christ which strengthens us O holy Father Thou Preserver of men the Prince of this world Satan cometh he cometh to search and to Try us O Grant he may find nothing in us to close with his Temptations keep us from sin keep us from every evil way of the Destroyer Deliver us from all our Ghostly Adversaries for we fly unto Thee to secure and hide us O pluck our feet out of the wicked Net which they have privily layd for our souls We fly unto thee O thou Refuge of all those who put their Trust in thee we fly unto thee to Repel and Quench all the fiery darts of the Devil let him not have any Advantage over us but give us strength in the day of battle and holy Contention Grant that thy Kingdom may daily Rise and the Kingdom of Satan dayly fall in our hearts Lord We wrestle not only with flesh and blood with the Corruptions of our own Nature but with Principalities and Powers with Spiritual wickednesses in high places O Give us therefore Power in thee our God let thy Spirit be sufficient for us let thy strength be manifested in our weakness and make us in the conclusion mightily to prevail Cause us to take unto our selves the whole Armour of God to watch and pray to fast and mourn and strive our utmost against sin and Temptation that having fought a good fight and finished our course and kept the faith henceforth may be laid up for us a Crown of Righteousness a Crown which fadeth not away Eternal in the Heavens Amen Amen Meditation VI. Against the Sin of Pride PRide How incongruous a thing to a poor Indigent Dependant Creature To a compound of Vileness and Corruption of Misery and Folly whose foundation being in the Dust ought to humble him thither from whence he was taken Pride was not made for Man says Solomon it Becomes better any other part of the Creation for they still Retain that beautiful Goodness at first impress'd upon them by their Divine Maker the Stormy wind and Tempest the Sea and raging Floods as boisterous and unruly as they be are yet Elements fulfilling God's Word The Moon observes her certain seasons and the Sun knoweth his going down All Nature keeps its Regular Course at first ordain'd it only Man Irregular Man has Deviated from his primitivâ— state of Order and Innocence anâ— thereby has Degraded himself belovâ— the very Beasts which perish so thaâ— 't is much more a matter of profounâ— humbling to Man that immortal Corruption was his Off-spring than thâ— Mother Earth Natural Corruption was the Parent-principle of his formation To be proud and yet to be a Beggar to live upon Alms what a Solâ—cism what an inconsistency is it And yet thus it is with us we aâ— Beggars of our dayly Bread froâ— God or at least should be such alâ— we possess all we Are was Originally from him we are his Pensiâ—ners and Alms-People And how in sufferable a thing then is Pride 〈◊〉 Man how indecorous What hast thoâ— says the Apostle St. Paul which thoâ— didst not Receive and yet boastest thâ—â— as if thou hadst not Received it Surely all boasting is excluded where whatever we have is of Grace and not 〈◊〉 Debt is ours in Trust only not in Propriety Ah 't was this sin of Pride which first brought sin into the world which first came into it and which will Last go out of it Ambition was as early as Nature and Adam was little sooner a Man than he Aspired to be as God knowing Good and Evil But alass 't was this his undue Aiming at so Great a height which was the occasion of his fall and he knows now Evil only by the Loss and Privation of Good Pride 'T was this turned the Apostate Angels out of Heaven which made even that infinitely Blissful place uneasie to them while proudly reaching at the incommunicable Prerogatives of the Deity that Aspiring sin changed their Angelick Nature into that of Devils And 't is this Vice of pride which is more or less an ingredient in all the wickedness committed by degenerate Mankind foâ— every wilful iniquity is a rejecting the Divine Authority and Soveraignty of God and a Vertual saying within our selves Who is Lord oveâ— us 'T is this sin of excessive Self-Loveâ— and too good an opinion of our own Endowments which includes in itâ— mixture of the greatest folly for 〈◊〉 implies misapprehension and Error Ignorance and Inconsideration Ignorance of those Imperfections and Deformities Sins and Seeds of Misery within us which were they discovered must needs humble and abase us An how troublesome a Guest 〈◊〉 Pride in a Man's bosome it create both uneasieness to himself and alâ— others about him while it makes him Envy Superiours take to Heart the slights of Equals and even to rage with passion at the Disrespect of Inferiours O 't is this vice of over-rating our selves keeps us Strangers at home makes us unjust Censurers abroad Causes us to think too highly of our own worth too meanly of that of others 't is this hinders our growing Wiser and Better our imagining we are wise and good enough already But alass did we see all we lack we should soon fall in our own Conceit and wish for much more Wisdom and Goodness than we have Pride nothing more looses a man Friends and Gains him Enemies nothing more renders him an object of universal Scorn and Contempt so that the proud person by Pride defeats his own Aims he challenges Honour as his due but by unduly challenging it he reaps Dis-respect and Derision But above all nothing more than Pride renders us the Scorn and Hatred of God the Lord beholdeth the lowly with an Eye
much Larger measure Wean we pray Thee our affections from the Creature which can make no Suitable Return to our Love which cannot Satisfie the Longing of our Souls and win them unto Thee who by thy Mercies preventest our Love by thy Mercies dost nourish and improve it canst fully Gratifie the Good desires of our hearts and wil't amply Recompence and Reward them O Thou Joy of Angels and Soveraign Happynes of all thy Saints Oh that our Souls cold Love Thee without Limits as Thou art without Limits Lovely and Amiable Oh that we may Love Thee for thy Essential Goodness in Thy self as much as for thy Derived imparted Goodness unto us Let our thoughts let our desires and affections zealously Embrace Thee and may we be embraced with a peculiar love and favour by Thee may still new Degrees of thy Love widen and enlarge our Capacities of Receiving them and as they Enlarge do Thou flow in with an increase of Divine Communications Convince us O Lord that those Excellencies which are Borrowed which are Imperfect which are variously Dispers'd in the Creation are all concenter'd in Thee the Original in infinite Beauty and Perfection and shall we not Love Thee the Spring head of Blessedness more than the Derived Streams than the lesser Rivulets of felicity O perswade us that we are unkind to our selves if we Love not Thee the Author the Treasury of our Happyness Temporal Spiritual and Eternal Alass we find our hearts Cold Dead and Sluggish in thy Service Lord Quicken Lord enflame them Enflame them with thy Divine Love Quicken them in thy Righteousness They have gone Astray they have wander'd after many other Lovers after the pleasures profits and honours of this world which have miserably Deceived them O fix them upon Thee who wilt everlastingly Love them Everlastingly Contiâ—â— Lovely and never Disappoint them Make holy God our Love of Thee an Vniting an Assimilating Love that We may Love what Thou Lovest and hate what Thou hatest that we may do whatever will please Thee forbear whatever will offend Thee conforming our selves to thine Image in Holyness O that our Affections could Ever continue such towards Thee as they are at present O that we may demonstrate the Truth of our Love to Thee by our obeying with all Willingness Zeal and Chearfulness thy Divine precepts by obeying them Vniversally Sincerely and Constantly to our lives End Then only O Heavenly Father can we have Confidence towards Thee shall we be Assured we Love Thee aright when we Love Thee for thine Own self when we Love Thee Soveraignly and Supreamly when our Love is so Exalted as that we may be said to hate and Despise all other things in Comparison of Thee O give us thus Zealously to be affected towards Thee Grant that the Love of thy Self may Crucifie in us the Vndue Love of our selves the inordinate Love of the World or of any our Dearest Relations and that being Empty of our selves and of all Confidence in the Creature we may be wholely taken up with Admiration Love and Delight in Thine infinite Perfections and in the Astonishing Expressions of thy Goodness and Loving-kindness to the Lost Sons of Adam O may thy Love Conquer and Over-power our hearts Melt them into Gratitude and Obedience may it Disingage their Affections from every Narrow and particular Good and Setile them upon Thee the Vniversal One Causing us to Love Thee Above all things every created blessing as it bears the impressions of thy Wisdom Beauty and Power and all mankind for Thy sake and in Obedience to thy Commands Preserve 〈◊〉 us Good Lord such Devout flames of a Godly Affection and let us be our Beloved's and Thou our Beloved ours to all Eternity Amen Amen Meditation XI On Zeal in the Service of God HOW natural a Consequent is this of the Love of God Zeal to please him Zeal to Resemble him Zeal to promote his Honour and Glory Where if not here is Zeal Becoming Where else can it be so Suitably placed Nay our Divine Services how can they well be Acceptable without it For where there is Sincerity of Intention in doing our Duty without which no Duty can be pleasing to Heaven we can scarce conceive Fervency of Spirit to be wanting unless through weakness and indisposition of Body And for the Service of God the most Glorious and Excellent of Beings to be a cold and Languid Worship how Great an Absurdity how Great an Inconsistency is this Certainly the Service of the Temple the Sacrifice of the Altar requires the flame and Fire of the Altar to render it of a sweet-smelling Savour To perform Duty to God with formality and indifferency of Spirit is neither to consider the Nature of the Work we are about the Greatness and Excellency of the Divine Majesty nor yet what Earnestness and Zeal the Care of our own Salvation exacts from us The Love of God demands our whole heart Soul and Strength and consequently the keeping his Commandments the Genuine Evidence of our Love demands the utmost Exercise of our Powers and Faculties both bodily and Spiritual That is not a Service of God which is carelesly discharged but rather an Affront rather a Contempt of him 'T is a doing somewhat in Religion to Still and Quiet the uneasie Reproofs of our own Consciences but not doing any thing with a design of pleasing God out of Obedience and Love to his Commandments or from a desire of becoming Like unto him in Holiness which Regards alone can consecrate and render acceptable our Services Zeal where is it due if not in the Divine Worship Than which nothing is of greater Importance nothing of greater Worth nothing more for our Interest and Advantage Where the safety of our Immortal Souls our Heaven and Eternal Happiness are concern'd there certainly no warmth of Heart no Diligence of endeavour can be too much Ah did we but consider God's Zeal the sounding of his Bowels and tenderness of his Compassion toward us we could not sure want Zeal and Ardency of Affection towards him The holy Angels above who best understand the Value of God's Service who know best how Exalted a pitch of Love and Duty an infinitely Good and Gracious Divine Majesty merits at our hands what a Pattern do They set us of Industry Zeal and joyful Alacrity in Religious worship And how does their intense and flaming Affection in God's Service Shame and Reprove our doing the work of the Lord negligently Can we serve either a Greater Master or a Better One who Deserves better our Services or who is more willing and Able to Reward them plenteously Do we pray thy Will be done on Earth as 't is in Heaven with a like Universality Constancy Fervour and Chearfulness of holy Duty and yet do we contradict this our Petition by a partial formal and undelightful Obedience Have we that pious Reverence amidst our Devotions which is answerable to the Great and Glorious Presence of God with whom in
Prayer we have to do Have we that importunity and Earnestness of Supplication that warmth and Zeal of Devout Address which is any way suitable to those pressing Indigencies we have to be supply'd To those burthensome miseries we have to be delivered from Or does not coldness and indifferency of affection wandering and distraction of thoughts Dulness and weariness of mind mix with and deprave our Divine Worship Ah how Little fervour of Spirit have we in serving the Lord how Little of the true Spirit of Prayer in our praying unto him Do not Gods Sabbaths his Religious Ordinances seem Tiresome unto us A very Toil and Burthen does not his Easie Yoak of precept sit Heavy on our Necks And 〈◊〉 Commandments appear Grievous by reason of our want of Approbation Love and Affection towardâ— them which would breed pleasure and Delight in their performance Ah 't is for that we are Ignoranâ— how God's Service is perfect freedom and hat a Slavery there is in serving diverse Lusts and Passions which makes us so Dead and Listless in his service when otherwise we should be all Spirit and Life whilst Employed in pious Exercises Ah had we more Love for God it would render us more Active more Warm and spirightly in his Worship it would put us upon doing our utmost to please him and we should not Endure coldness and flagging of affection in our religious Addresses But Lukewarmness of Devotion would appear to us â—igh as distasteful as perfect Deadness in Duty and we should never think that flat Lifeless Service Acceptable to God which we could not Approve of to our selves The Prayer BLessed and Glorious Lord God who infinitely Deservest our most warm and Zealous Services who makest thy Angels Spirits and those thy Ministers a flame of fire flames indeed of Devotion of Divine Love and Gratitude of Delight and fervour in holy Obedience O make us also all flame and Spirit in thy Worship that we may worship thee with Zeal and Ardour of Affection as well as with Sincerity and uprightness of heart Produce in us holy Father a Zealous importunity in prayer Suitable to 〈◊〉 wants we have to be Supplyed suitable to the Dangers and Evils we have to 〈◊〉 delivered from suitable to the worâ—â— the Necessity the Importance of thâ—â— Divine blessings Temporal Spiritual and Eternal which we stand in Neeâ— of and which are only to be derived froâ— thee the fountain of all Blessedness O cause us to Evidence our high Value and Esteem of thy Heavenly favours of the Gifts and Graces of thy Holy Spirit by our Zealous Concernment for the obtaining them by our coveting Earnestly those best Gifts and Seeking 〈◊〉 such things which are more Excellent Give us Give us Good Lord more Love to thee our God that we may have a greater Zeal for thy Honour and Glory that we may boldly Rebuke vice Earnestly promote Holyness be Grieved principally for sin because thy blessed Spirit is Grieved thereby may our hearts burn within us with pious Love Reverence and Delight when we Read and meditate on thy Sacred Word when we Pray when we return Thanksgivings or are any ways Employed in Religious Duties let our hearts be sad when our Affections are cold and languid in thy Service O Endue us with the burning Love with the flame and Zeal of holy Cherubims that we may Experience also their Transports of Delight their Extasies of Joy and Satisfaction in thy Worship make us we beseech thee thus Exceeding Jealous for Thee the Lord God of Hosts may the Zeal of thine House well nigh Consume us may we account it our very Meat and Drink to be doing thy Will and let nothing flat and lifeless mingle it self with our piety and Devotion Does Gracious God our Eternal Salvation depend upon our aright worshipping thee and do we worship thâ—â— with a faint and heartless Service Aâ—â— cure the Deadness and formality of thy Servants best Religious performances cure the indifferency and Earthlyness 〈◊〉 our Affections Make s rather tobe on the wing of Devotion to be always Zealously affected in a Good matter 〈◊〉 be fervent in Spirit Serving the Lordâ— that so we may Anticipate much of 〈◊〉 Heavenly State and Temper which shall be compleated hereafter that our lives at present may be full of inward peace and comfort our Deaths of Joy and Consolidation in believing and our Eternity full of Glory and Celestial Happyness Amen for the sake of our dying Redeemer Amen Meditation XII On Trust in God TRust and Relyance on God is our Duty and our Priviledge 't is our Duty as we were created frail impotent Necessitous Beings and for that reason Confiding Dependant ones as also God our Sustainer is a Self-sufficient and All sufficient Store of Happyness whose infinite Perfections render him an object of our Hope and Trust proportionable to our greatest Wants of Ability to Remove or Relieve our most extream acutest Distresses And what more Natural and Reasonable than that we should there place our Confidence and Relyance where we have our Support and Dependance But that we should there found our Trust where we cannot be Disappointed But that a poor helpless distress'd Creature should seek abroad for Succour and Relief And where should he Seek it so Suitably and Effectually as in God-Almighty the fountain oâ— all Strength the inexhaustible Magazine of Relief the protecting Sanctuary of the distress'd who fly unto him for Refuge A God as Willing and Ready as Sufficient and Powerful to Relieve us And that this flying to God for Help and Succour and reposing all his Trust and Confidence in the Deity is the Confiding person's Priviledge and Advantage as well as bounden-Duty is evident for what can give that Man inward Quiet and Tranquillity even in his best Condition who is subject every moment to the uncertainties and vicissitudes of Human Affairs to all the Dangers all the Hazards all the Actual Evils and Misfortunes of this mortal life but a Relying Assurance that nothing can befall him beside the wise Counsel gracious Will and Ordination of that God in whom he puts his Trust Whose power is of that extent as to furnish all our Needs and Satisfie all our desires as to secure to us his favours and blessings and to keep off from us or else Sanctifie our troubles and afflictions whose Omnipotence is directed by infinite Wisdome to Know that 's best for us his Wisdom exercised in Contriving and Ordering what 's best for us and both his Power and Wisdom vigorously moved in their operations by infinite Love and Goodness to Do what 's best for us An humble confidence in God makes us deâ—â—e the worst of the Creature 's Threatenings frees us from Carking troubles within our selves preserves a firm peaceful temper in the midst of Storms and Adversities giving us an unbroken Magnanimity of Spirit a true Dominion of Mind over all outward things and occurrences All our inordinate Care taken without Gods immediately Ordaining
art Holy Thou only art to be feared With Thee is power and Strength with thee therefore ought to be Dominion and fear O who is so much an object of our fear as God A mighty God and Terrible infinite in Justice Almighty in Power Awful in Omniscience and Omnipresence And who if we will nor fear him at present so as to avoid Sin will one day force us to fear him when it shall be too Late to avoid Punishment Now this fear of God to which we are obliged is not so much a fear of him upon the account of his Exact Justice and Almighty power as an Aweful Regard to him mixt with Love and a wariness of forfeiting his favour 'T is a fearing him for his very Goodness that is not only lest we loose our Share in it but 't is a letting his Essential Goodness in himself and his Communicated Goodness unto us out of a principle of Ingenuity and Gratitude be our Chief Motive and Obligation to a Religious Caution more than any regard had to the Divine Punishments and Severities 'T is a fear of Loosing God's Love more than of feeling the fore Effects of his Displeasure And hath this fear of the Lord possession of our Souls Do we fear him with a filial Reverential fear More lest we loose our Interest in his Love and fatherly Affection than for dread of incurring the severities of his Justice as our Judge and Punisher Does our Consideration of his manifold benefits conferr'd upon us write in our hearts such an ingenuous Law of Thankfulness as that we fear him more out of a sense of Gratitude for what we have Received of his Divine blessings than for sear of forfeiting those which are yet in Reversion Ah 't is this fear of Reverence this fear of Displeasing the Deity this Holy Caution and Waryness lest we err from his Commandments which is the true Godly-fear the most Acceptable in our Heavenly Fathers sight with a fear of vengeance to be executed upon them the very Devils fear and tremble but 't is only a Son of God and Heir of Salvation who fears God for his Goodness fear of Divine Justice and Almighty Power is but the Beginning of Godly Wisdom the first step in a profligate Sinners Conversion but 't is a fear of God made perfect by Love of him a fear to offend him and loose his friendship which crowns the work of Regeneration and shews our Advance in a state of Grace and Salvation O our God Thou art Terrible as well as Lovely but Thou art also Lovely in thy very Terrour for therefore stand we in Awe of thee lest we should forfeit thy good will and favour O how will Love as well as Abhorrence create a Dread it us a Dread of offending our Beloved How will Gods Mercy as well as his Justice cause us to fear him Oh that we may fear and Love him more and so much the more fear him by how much we increased and abound in Love of him And certainly 't is our wisest way on all accounts thus to fear God for thy that fear the Lord need fear nothing besides they having such an Almighty Protector and Deliverer their Guardian They need fear nothing but sin and such a fear as keeps them innocent from wilful offences keeps them also calm and at peace in their own bosoms preserves them the Favourites of Heaven and then they may defie all the Power and Policy of Hell The fear of any worldly thing will Lessen mens fear of God but their true fear of God will take from them all slavish fear of the World the Lord is on our side will they say what need we fear what man can do unto us The fierceness of man's anger against us God can turn both to His and our Praise in causing us patiently to bear it and the Residue of Wrath will be Restrain Men can do us no more harme than God wil permit but who can stop his Arâ— when he stretcheth it forth to take vengeance He can suddenly change our Adversaries evil minds toward us into thoughts of Love and Beneficence of Peace and Good will or at least I should have said at most for 't is the Greatest Blessing God can bestow upon us he can amply Reward our light afflictions which are but for a season with a far more exceeding and Eternal weight of Glory The fear of the Lord is our greatest Wealth and Riches as well as Safety and Protection they that fear the Lord both Corporal and Spiritual blessings are theirs pardon of sin healing of infirmities the Supplies of God's Grace whether things present or things to come all are Theirs and they are Christ's and Christ is God's God is the Portion the Lot of inheritance to all those that stand in Awe of him and sin not and in him being hidden all the Treasures of Goodness He being the never-failing fountain of Happyness those consequently who truely fear and have an Interest in Him can never lack If God is our Father where is our Son-like Honour of him If he is our Master where is our Obediential Fear Ah who knows the power of Gods Wrath who knows how Great an Object of Terrour he is like the poor Disconsolate and Despairing Sinner in whom the Arrows of the Almighty stick fast and his hand presseth him sore against whom God writeth bitter things and makes him to possess the iniquities of his Youth Alase to such a one God is fearful and Terrible indeed he believes God's Justice and Judgments and believing that is viewing them with a Sensible and more Lively prospect he fear and Trembles For thereafter as a Man Fears so is God's Displeasure in his account nay thereafter as a man Loves as well as Fears God proportionably Great is his Dread of loosing his favour proportionably Grievous is his Sorrow upon Having lost it Hence we find Holy David crying out with bitterest Complaints Thou didst hide thy face from me O Lord and I was sore troubled O turn thee unto me again and have mercy upon me cast me not away from thy presence neither shut up thy Loving-kindness in Everlasting Displeasure Such a Cutting Grief doth the loss of the Light of God's Countenance produce in those who sincerely Love him This Love indeed casteth out all Servile Despondent fear which hath Torment and generateth to Bondage but it Quickens and improves a filial fear such as restraineth from offending O may we fear God more lest we forfeit his Love than lest we incur the severe penalties of his Displeasure may we fear him with a Reverential Obedient fear as Sons that we may never fear him with a burthensome Dismaying fear as Slaves The Prayer O Thou the fear of Israel who only art to be feared with a Soveraign Supream fear so as to Extinguist in us that of all other things besides when in competition with our fear of Thee possess holy Father our Souls with a pious Awe of thy Divine
To Review all this after an Almsgiving cannot but raise great complacency within us and cause us to applaud our selves for having performed so Generous so Godlike and withall so pleasing and Delightsome an action Nothing will administer to us so much Joy and Consolation when Dying nothing so much strengthen us on a bed of Languishing and make our bed in all our Sickness as the Reflection how we have in our Life past through acts of Charity and Munificence made to our selves Friends of the Mammon of Unrighteousness laid up to our selves Treasures in Heaven a place of the best Security of the largest Interest and Improvement How we have been Eyes to the blind and Feet to the Lame through our supporting Alms-deeds how we have evidenced our Love to God by Love to our Neighbour loving him for God's sake and at his Injunction How we have like wise Merchants in a Foreign Country Transmitted our Goods and Effects before us into that our Native Region whither we intend and expect shortly to Return our selves Indeed I must Confess that Love to our very Enemies which Christianity enjoyns has at first little of this pleasure and Delight which accompanies doing Good to those who never Dis-obliged us nay that 't is an exceeding Irksom and Difficult Duty and that we are apt to cry out 't is an hard Commandment who can bear it But besides that Returning Good for Evil Blessings for Cursings Kindnesses for Injuries is the ready way to overcome our Adversary's Enmity and to convert it into a reciprocal Love and beneficence towards us whereas a Retaliation of dis-kindnesses serves only to multiply heighten and perpetuate Quarrels and oftentimes ends in the utter Ruine and destruction of both the contending Parties Besides this if we would be Children of our Heavently Father perfect as he is perfect we must be Merciful even as he is Merciful who is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil Who as to his common favours makes no Difference in their distribution but causeth his Sun to shine his Rain to descend on the Good and Bad on the Just and Unjust person Matth. 5. 45. And oh how well does it Become us by heaping Coals of Love on our Adversary's heads to endeavour to melt them down into Peace and Reconciliation How well does it Become us the offended not only to forgive but to be the first in suing for a mutual good Agreement with our offenders whenas God himself by his Ministers beseeches Sinners to be Reconciled unto him Whenas his holy Spirit strives with our obstinacy woes and importunes us by his Gospel-Profers and by his inward Solicitations to give over our Rebellion and accept of the terms of Divine Grace and Pardon Ah where is our Love to God if we have little or none to our Brother who bears his Image Where is our Love to the Deity if we obey not his Commandments And this is one of his Commandments that he who loves God should Love his brother also 1 John 4. 21. How dwelleth he in Christ and Christ in him in whom the Spirit of Christ a Spirit of Love and Charity dwelleth not How doth such a Person do what in him lyes to defeat the Prayer of our Saviour that we might be one as he and his Father are one we one in Unity of Affection as they are one in Unity of Divine Essence who hates his Brother or is at variance with him He is not a Christian who hath no true Faith in Christ and he hath no true Saving Faith whose Faith worketh not by Love both towards God and towards Man Hath Christ thought thy Brother worth his Dying for and dost Thou Ungrateful Wretch think him not worth thy Living for in all Offices of Love and Kindness towards him Dost thou consider that thou art no further a Christian than thou art Charitable and yet professest thou Christianity and continuest Uncharitable For Shame Man either Quit thy dissembled profession or else Realize it by acts of Mercy and beneficence O what a pattern was Jesus unto us of Love and Good-will of Real Substantial Acts of Kindness who went about doing Good made it his chief business and Employment healing all that were diseas'd both in Soul and body And who herein Recommended his Love most magnificently Displayed and Illustrated it in that while we were Enemies he Dyed for us and shall not this move us to Live unto him in Obedience to all his Commandments and particularly to That which he hath Dignified with a more peculiar Recommendation Calling it His by way of Eminency above the rest This is My Commandment says He That ye love one another as I have loved you that ye also Love one another John 15. 12. And oh how can we well do otherwise who have our Saviours so expresly plain so frequently inculcated so pressing and urgent Injunctions of this Duty who have his so Illustrious and Transcendent Example for it who have the so potent Aids and Assistances of his Spirit of Love unto the performance Ah can we deny any thing to the Lord who hath so Dearly bought and Redeemed us Had it been some Hard thing that so Great a Benefactor had enjoyn'd us would we not have done it How much more when he bids us Love and be kind to one another The most Easie the most Delightsom of all Duties would we but Try the Experiment Ah shall we not do it Shall not we Christians who have one Faith one Hope one Baptisme one God and Father of us all one Gracious Mediator and Redeemer have also one Heart and Good-will to each other Shall we who are Brethren Heirs of the same hopes of the same blessed promises fall out and Quarrel by the way in our journying to our Home and Father's House upon the account of things indifferent and meer Trifles if compar'd with the Substantials of Religion Shall we violate Charity that most weighty Vital part of Christianity for meer Circumstances and Externals of Divine Worship of no worth in themselves but only as made Assistant to Piety and Devotion What though we are not all of the same mind in matters un-essential to Religion as indeed how should we be unless of the same size of Understanding Does however our Difference of Judgment lay on us any fatal Necessity to Differ also in Love and Affection Though we are not all of one Mouth speaking the same things yet cannot we be all of one Heart We shall never be of one mind till in Heaven we behold things in one and the same Light or at least each of us in a Sufficient one but we both may and ought to be of one Good-will on Earth Ah that our Little Differences in opinion concerning Rites and Ceremonies should contribute more to our Divisions than our General Agreement in fundamental Doctrines which we all acknowledge able to make us wise unto Salvation does conduce to our Union and Coalition While our Minds Agree in Christ in the
thee in Contempt of thy Goodness Patience and forbearance in Contempt of thy Astonishing Love manifested in Christ Jesus in Defiance of the clearest Revelation of thy Will and Pleasure by him in Defiance of thy Great and precious Gospel Promises of all the Convictions of our own Consciences calls of thy blessed Spirit Sacred Word and Gracious Providences admonishing us to be Reconciled unto thee our God! And can'st thou O Lord wilt thou after all this Disobedience after all this presumptuous offending thee be yet Reconciled to such vile wretches and miserable sinners as we are Is there still Mercy with thee that thou may'st be fear'd Is there still Hope for us in a Crucified Saviour O blessed Saviour help and deliver us we most humbly beseech thee by the Merits of thy Death and Passion by the Justifying power of thy Resurrection and Ascension by the prevalency of thy Mediation and Intercession have Mercy upon us Thy Compassions are always free and ready towards Repentant Offenders Lord we Repent perfect our Repentance Lord we believe O help thou our unbelief we solemnly promise thee a more Reformed Obedience a more exalted Righteousness O strengthen us to keep this our promise to perform this our holy Resolution Deliver us O Heavenly Father not onely from the Guilt and Condemnation but also from the power and pollution of our sins Assist us to break off those Chains of evil Custom and Habit those fetters of Wordly Cares and Temptations those sensualizing Tyes of Corrupt Inclinations or inordinate Passions in which we have formerly been held Captive Create clean hearts O God and renew a-right Spirits within us for the time to come beget in us a true Faith a sincere Repentance an enflam'd holy Love towards thee that we may Delight our selves in thy Commandments that we may walk before thee in uprightness in an ingenuous fear of Displeasing thee in a joyous Carefulness of doing what is Acceptable in thy Sight Diligently seeking thee constantly Depending on thee chearfully Submitting to thy Will and Zealously practicing it in the Duties of our several Callings with Godly sincerity and constancy unto our Lives End O Lord keep our feet order our steps that they stray not out of the paths of thy Commandments out of the Paths of Truth Righteousness and Peace O Lord keep our mouths as with a bridle that we offend not at any time with our Tongues through profane Swearing through lying slandering immodest filthy Speech or false-witness-bearing endue us with the most enlarged and raised Christian Charity with Temperance and Sobriety with Purity and Chastity with Meekness and Humility that we may possess these our Earthly Vessels in Sanctification and Honour and being Meek and Lowly may find Rest unto our Souls Give us holy Father to Live more by Faith and Less by Sense to Overcome by Faith the World to live Above its Allurements or Determents to have our Conversation in an higher degree in Heaven to lay up to our selves Treasures there that where our Treasures are there may our Hearts be also Make us account it our very Meat and Drink to be doing thy Will Cause us to Evidence the Sincerity of our Love to thee our God by our keeping Universally thy Commandments open thou our Eyes that we may see the Delightsome Excellencies of thy Law the charming Beauty of Holiness and then none of thy Divine precepts shall appear Grievous unto us amidst all our Temptations whether of the World the Flesh or the Devil make thou us O blessed Lord more than Conquerors through Christ who strengthens us And after we have done all after we have Grown in Grace which we beseech thee cause us to do after we have been fill'd with the fruits of thy Spirit and endeavour'd our utmost the perfecting of holiness in thy Fear keep us humble keep us abased under a sense of the manifold Imperfections of our best and choicest Services Neither Pray we This to be added to the Evening Prayer where you see this * mark for our selves alone but for the whole Race of Mankind That thy ways O God may be known upon Earth thy Saving Health among all Nations Look down in Mercy upon thy holy Catholick Church Enlarge its Borders Unite more its Members Purifie their Faith where Corrupt and work a General Reformation in their Lives and Actions Bless Holy Father more especially these Nations whereunto we belong Pardon our Great and Crying Sins Avert from us thy Judgments Encrease and Continue to us thy Blessings make us an Holy and an Happy People and Settle us upon the sure Foundations of Truth Righteousness and Peace Rule O Lord in the Hearts of our Sovereign Rulers by thy Faith Fear and Love Protect their Sacred Persons Assist and Direct their Counsels Succeed their Arms and all their Righteous Undertakings Make their Government a Great and Publick Blessing to these Kingdoms and to the whole Protestant Interest and after a Long and Prosperous Reign over us Here Crown them with Glory and Immortality in the highest Heaven Influence in a Peculiar Manner our Spiritual Governours and Teachers Give them Wisdom and Prudence from Above Make them O God Faithful and Zealous make them also Successful in the Discharge of their Duties and Grant that by the purity of their Doctrine and Integrity of their Lives they may be as burning and shining Lights amidst a crooked and perverse Generation Visit with thy Salvation O thou Father of Mercies all the Sons and Daughters of Affliction Sanctifie their Troubles Support them with Faith and Patience under 'em and in thy due time send them an happy Deliverance out of all their Sufferings Forgive O God all our Enemies Persecutors and Slanderers and Turn their hearts Bless all our Friends and Relations be thou a God in Covenant with them and make them Partakers of all the Benefits and Priviledges of that thy Covenant Bless all of us here present bless us in Turning us from our Iniquities in the Sanctifying and Renewing our Depraved Nature Bless us with all Temporal but especially with Spiritual Blessings in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus Put us O God in frequent Mindfulness of our Latter End and Fit and Prepare us for it Help us to walk sincerely and uprightly in our whole Conversation that Living here in thy Fear we may Dye in thy Favour may Rest in thy Peace Rise by thy Power be Glorified by thy Bounty and Remain with thee for ever amidst Joys Celestial Enravishing Inexhaustible All which we beg through the Merits and Mediation of thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ who hath taught us when we pray to say Our Father which art in Heaven 〈◊〉 A Prayer for the Evening O OUR God thou Almighty Lord of Heaven and Earth Thou pure immaculate Spirit of Holyness humble us under a sense of our meanness as indigent Dependant Creatures of our exceeding Great Vileness and impurity as Sinners O with what pious fear and Reverence ought we to draw Nigh
unto Thee who art of purer Eyes than to behold the least iniquity with Approbation With what Joy and Thankfulness ought we to acknowledge this thine inestimable favour that thou who art so highly Exalted wilt humble thy self to take notice of such Despicable polluted Beings as we are For ever blessed be thy Goodness who hast made Prayer our Duty which is so much our Interest and Priviledge O how inexcusable should we be should we neglect so Great a means of Grace and Salvation Wilt thou O Lord Admit and Accept our poor unworthy Services and shall not we Gladly Embrace the Vouchsafement Since our Righteousness Extendeth not unto Thee since we only are the Gainers by thy Service which is its own Reward which is our perfect freedom O cause therefore all that is within us to bless thy holy Name Cause all that is within us to render thee most willing and Chearful Obedience But O God most Glorious whose Transcendent Excellency is Exalted above all Glory and Praise the more we Speak of thine Honour the more we become Sensible how infinitely we fall short of it O make us to shew forth thy praise not only with our Lips but in our Lives by giving up our selves to thy Service by conforming our selves to thy Likeness in Holyness by â—aising Spiritualizing and Enflaming by thy help our Affections towards thee in Prayer Yet Alass Alass how soon are we weary of this most Delightsome most Beneficial Duty of Devotion How much Averseness is there in us unto the Vndertaking how much Distraction of Thoughts and Deadness of Spirit in the performance What formality want of Relish want of Zeal and fervour is there mingled with the best of our Religious Services How prone have we been to Deceive our selves with Shadows of Piety and Devotion instead of the Substance With a form of Godlyness instead of the Life and power thereof How prone to Content our selves with the bare praises of thy Divine perfections which we have not had the Godly Ambition the Sincerity of heart to imitate O pardon the sins and iniquities of these our Holy things But besides the imperfections of our best performances how many ways have we presumptuously offended thee our God! By innumerable Omissions and Commissions Omissions of Duty Commissions of Evil by many frequently Repeated and long Continued acts of wickedness by sinful provocations in Thought Word and Deed against thy Divine Majesty O how often have we Stifled the Convictions the Reproofs of our own Consciences How often Resisted the holy motions the Restraints of thy blessed Spirit How long neglected the Great Salvation of thy Gospel How many times violated our most Solemn Baptismal Vow and Covenant The very Multitude of our sins is Enough to Amaze and Affrighten us to cover us with Shame and Confusion of face but the Heinousness the Baseness the Ingratitude of our mis-demeanours towards so Gracious and heavenly a Father so Long-suffering a preserver so Mercyful a Benefactor Sanctifier and Redeemer O how Grievous is the Remembrance thereof to us the burthen of so much wickedness how Intolerable O our God Strong and patient hadst thou not been God how couldst thou have had patience with such perfidious such ungrateful such willfully Disobedient Rebells Well for us is it that thy mercy and forbearance Exceed that of Man are like the self unlimited O the Riches of thy Grace wilt thou again Receive such prodigal Children into thy favour Wilt thou Still be Reconciled unto us Ah let thy Goodness let thy Reconcileableness lead us to Repentance to a more compleat consummated one and our Repentance may it fit us for thy pardon and Acceptance And not meerly for the Pardon of our sins implore we mercy at thy hands but for a Divine power to enable us to subdue them Set we beseech thee O Lord our hearts in such a perfect Enmity against all things contrary to thy blessed Will and Nature that we may never be Reconciled to them any more dispose us to such an Entire Affection to thy Commandments that they may become our Choice our Desire our Exceeding Great Rejoycing O that we may walk more circumspectly Redeeming the time because the days are Evil O that we may give all Diligence to make our Calling and Election Sure O that the life the pure unspotted life of Christ Jesus may be formed within us the hope of Glory Fill us Gracious God with the whole Knowledge of thy Will in all Wisdom and Spiritual Understanding and Assist us with thy Grace unto the Conscientious practice of such knowledge Increase in us that faith which worketh by Divine Love which purisieth the heart and life and overcometh the wicked world Excite in us that ardent Affection to thee which may make us chearfully Do thy Will or patiently suffer it in all instances and which will cause us to Love our brethren as our selves for Christ's sake with a pure heart out of Love unfeigned not in Tongue only but also in Deed and in Truth Keep us O Lord pure and unspotted with the World Temperate Chaste and Unspotted with the flesh keep us Safe and unseduced by our own hearts lusts by Satans wicked Suggestions and Allurements Cause us to have our Conversation without Covetousness to have it more in Heaven less on Earth teach us contempt of Earthly things teach us to deny our selves to conquer all Temptations to live above the corruptions which so much abound in the Age Give us Patience give us supporting comfort and quiet submission in Adversity let a contented mind be instead of all we want and a thankful heart sweeten all our Enjoyments O that we may mind more the one thing Necessary that we may seek in the first place the Kingdom of Heaven and its Righteousness and whatever other things we leave undone we may be still working out our Salvation with fear and trembling Make us O our God more careful of pleasing thee fearful of offending thee diligent and industrious in thy Service more observant of thy Good Providence in every thing more grateful for thy benefits Received more readily disposed in all conditions to every good thought word and work * Stir us up we entreat thee to a frequent mindfulness of our Latter End and fit and prepare us for it let our approaching sleep this Night put us in mind of our last sleep our Bed remind us of our Grave and the darkness of the evening of the days of Darkness which shall be many in the Chambers of Death Lighten our Eyes O Lord that they sleep not therein but that we may Awake with the morning Light unto thy Praise and Glory Forgive those actual sins of thy servants which the day past hath been witness unto Lord give us a Godly sorrow for them a perfect hatred of them and more carefulness to avoid them for the future and whether we sleep this night in death or awake to the fresh Mercies of the following day O Grant that Christ
not to Depart hence at any time but with all imaginable Preparations for Eternity with a Soul thoroughly Changed and Renewed with a Soul full fraught with thy Divine Love Humble and Resign'd Chearful and Enravish'd with future Expectations And then whenever this his Earthly Tabernacle shall be Dissolved he shall have a building of God an house not made with Hands Eternal in the Heavens Which we beseech thee to Grant both him and us for the alone Sake and Merits of thy Son our Saviour to whom together with Thee O Father and thy Holy and Ever-blessed Spirit be Ascribed as is most Dâ—e all Honour Praise Might Majesty and Dominion from this time forth and for Evermore Amen Amen Another Prayer for the Sick when there appears small Hopes of Recovery O Most Glorious and Merciful Heavenly Father the Lord and Giver of Life the Healer and Repairer of our Decay'd Nature who bringest down to the Grave and then sayst Come again ye Children of Men Giving Power to the Faint and to those who have no Might increase of Strength Behold we beseech thee Favourably Visit Graciously and Relieve speedily this thy Servant who standeth in Need of thy Pitty and Relief Be Thou a very Present Help unto him O Lord now in the Necessitous time of his Trouble O let thy tender Mercies come unto him that he may Live Encompass him with thy Favour as with a Shield Pitty and Purifie him Sanctifie and Save him we most humbly beseech thee Either Asswage his Pain or else Increase his Faith and Patience to bear it Either Remove his Affliction or else move towards him with Divine Comfort and Sâ—pport Lay upon him Gracious God no more than thou shalt enable him with Willingness and Submission to undergo and then lay on him whatsoever shall seem Good in thy Sight O Give him a Sanctified Use and Improvement of thy Fatherly Corrections let them teach him more Humility Contentedness and Resignation less Trust and Relyance on the Creature Cause him O Lord by means of his present Distress to see the Empâ—iness Deceit and Instability of all Earthly Possessions and may this Conviction carry up his Mind to the satisfieing Everdurable Enjoyments of Heaven O that his Devout Conversation there in Holy Meditations Fervent Prayers and Transporting Praises may Allay much of his Corporal Pains and Disquietudes and render him in a manner Insensible of them O that thy Word and blessed Promises may be his sure Trust and Confidence in Adversity tho' he walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death yet let him fear no Evil may thy Rod as well as thy Staff Comfort and Sustain him Give him Holy Lord unseigned Repentance for all the Miscarriages of his Life past Stedfast Faith in thy Son Jesus Compleat Pardon and Forgiveness through the Merits of his Blood a lively Hope of that Immortal Bliss which his Redeemer has Dearly Purchased and most Graciously Promised to true Believers a strong Sense of thy Fatherly Love towards him and tender Care over him even amidst his Sufferings O cause this Sick Person to Apprehend and be Assured that thou intendest his Spiritual Benefit and Amendment by these thy Corrections that they are the Chastisements of a Loving Father and not of an Incensed Judge that they are the healing Medicines of a Friend and not the avenging Wounds of an Enemy O Convince him Convince him that in making him endure Chastening thou dealest with him as with one of thy Children for what Son is he whom the Father Chasteneth not That thou seekest to Conform him by Afflictions to the Likeness of his Blessed Saviour O may he be made Perfect through Sufferings Teach him we Pray thee more Obedience through the things which he Endures May his Chastening however Grievous for the Present afterwards yield him the Peaceable Fruits of Righteousness may it turn to his Spiritual Profit and Advantage and help him forward in the Right way which leadeth unto Life Everlasting Take O God from this thy Servant all Murmuring Discontent under thy Disciplining Providence Cause him rather Quietly to submit to thy Afflicting Hand as Considering that Affliction ariseth not out of the Dust proceedeth not meerly from Natural Causes but from thy Wise Providence and Appointment who Orderest all things toward us for our Good O Perswade this Sick Person 't is for his Good that he is Afflicted that of very Faithfulness thou hast Caused him to be troubled O make him by Searching and Trying his ways to find out those particular Sins and Failings which thou Aimest at in this his Chastisement to Observe and Understand thy Meaning in the Calamities which befall him that he may accordingly meet thee in thy Providential Ways and Dealings towards him that so the Removal of his Guilt by Repentance through the Merits of his Saviour may make Way for the Removal of thy Divine Rod of Punishment And do Thou the God of all Grace and Truth who hast called this thy Corrected Son to Suffering by thy Fatherly Wisdom and Goodness after that he hath suffered a while for his Souls Profit Stablish Strengthen Settle him Let we Pray thee thy Merciful Kindness be this Afflicted Person 's Succour and Safety send him Help from Above and Evermore mightily Defend him Defend him O Lord from all Satan's disquietting Assaults from all his Wicked Temptations O let not that Evil one have any Advantage over him in these his sorrowful Hours but Rebuke him Good Lord Rebuke him Tread that old seducing Serpent under this thy Servant's Feet and make him more than Conqueror through Christ who strengthens him Worâ— Holy Father Dâ—liverance for 〈◊〉 whom thâ—â— Châ—stisest Heal him and he shall be Healed Save him and he shall be saved for thou aâ—â— the God of his Praise O make him to hear again of Joy and Gladness that the â—ones which thou hast bâ—oken mâ—y â—â—joice But if thou in thy Wisdom hast Decreed that this thy Servants Sickness shall be unto Death Fit and Prepare him for it we beseech thee Give him a more perfectly Holy and Heavenly Constitution of Soul an Heart Wean'd and Estranged from this World a sanctified Meetness to be made Partaker of an Inheritance with the Saints in Light and Glory O may his last Hours be his Best Hours his last Thoughts his Best Thoughts and his last Words and Actions his best Words and Actions The Nearer he draws to the End of his Days cause him so much the Nearer to draw to the End of his Hopes even the Salvation of his Soul For this Purpose Apply we Entreat thee all the Benefits of our Saviour's Perfect Obedience and Meritorious Sufferings unto this Dying Person for Reconciliation and Acceptance Impute not Gracious Lord unto him his former Sins but thy Well-beloved Son 's Alsufficient Righteousness who was Wounded for our Transgressions and bruised for our Iniquities O let the Peace purchased by thy Son's Chastisements be upon this thy Servant and by his Redeemers Stripes let him