he does command or forbid me nay I must delight to do it Psal 40.8 v. And it must be to me as my meat and drink John 4.34 I must consent to suffer whatever he will lay upon me and though it may be his Pleasure to lay hard things upon me and grievous to be born yet I must not repine or murmur but with Cheerfulness Alacrity and Thankfulness I will submit my self to it Whatever threatens me I must say It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good 1. Sam. 3.18 and whatever befalls me I must give thanks for that is his Will concerning me in Christ Jesus 1 Thes 5.18 I have given him all the Passions and Affections of my Soul and therefore he must dispose of them govern and set bounds unto them he must have my Love my Fear my Delight my Joy and nothing in the World must have any Share in these or any other of my Affections but with respect to him and for his sake What he loves I must love what he hates I must hate what he is well pleased with I must rejoyce in what he is grieved with I must mourn for the Objects of his Pity I must have compassion on and those of his wrath and Indignation I must be zealous against and all in such measures and Degrees as he is pleased to prescribe me I have given him my Body and therefore must glorify him with it I must not dare to abuse it by Gluttony Drunkenness Adultery Fornication or any other Uncleanness I must look upon it as his Temple and therefore must preserve it pure and Holy fit for my God to dwell in See 1. Corinth 6.19 I must not wrong it by pampering or indulging it nor by neglecting nor shewing too much Rigor towards it in overmuch fasting watching labouring c. But must keep it as far as in me lies Healthy Vigorous active and fit to do him all manner of Service that he shall call for I have given him my Senses my Eyes my Ears c. And therefore to good they must be alwayes open but to Evil and all the Occasions of it they must be shut I have given him all my Members and therefore they must be no longer Instruments of Unrighteousness unto Sin Rom. 6.13 but Instruments of Righteousness unto God My tongue must shew forth his Praise my hands must do his Works and my foot must carry me with speed unto it I have given him not my self only but also all that do belong unto me and therefore my Children my Friends my Servants must all be his if I can make them so I have given him all my Worldly Goods and therefore I must prize them and use them only for him his House his Priests his Poor must have their Portions from me with a willing mind and though I have no more than necessaries for my Life yet I must be content to part with them when my Lord shall need them or command me to resign them I have given him my Credit and Reputation and therefore I must value it and endeavour to maintain it only in Respect to him as it may do him service and advance his Honour in the World I have given him my self and all and therefore I must look upon my self to be nothing and to have nothing out of him he must be the sole Disposer Governour and Guider of my self and all He must be my Portion and my All. And then in the close thou may'st add this Thus have I given my self to God and and to all this have I bound my self in the most solemn manner and with my own hand do I now testify my full consent unto it and I am resolved to make good the Whole and every part of it God assisting me to my Lives End I doubt not but I shall meet with many temptations to the Contrary I shall be often told of my Singularity and Preciseness and some may tell me in kindness that I do more than is necessary and that I must accommodate or fit my self to this or that person Company Thing Custome c. But my Answer shall be to all I am not my own I am not for my self nor for my Friends nor for the World nor for its Customes but for my God I will give to Caesar what I owe to Caesar and to God what I owe to God The Lord be merciful to me his unworthy Servant All this I say thou wilt do well to write in thy Book of Spiritual Accounts but if thou can'st not write sail not to fix it in thy memory and as often as thou art called to the table of the Lord take a View of it or repeat it to thy self and call thy self strictly to as account how thou hast made it good and how and wherein thou hast failed and give God thanks for what thou hast been able to do and humble thy self before him for all that thou hast omitted consessing it with sorrow and earnestly begging pardon for it renewing thy Resolutions and vows and imploring a greater measure of his grace to enable thee to do better for the time to come But did I say that thou must do this as often as thou art called to the Table of the Lord I must tell thee that thou should'st do it oftner thou should'st do it once a week at least upon the Saturday in the Evening or early in the morning on the Lord's day for so often at least were the Primitive Christians wont to receive the Holy sacrament and that we do it not as often as they did is not for our Praise or Commendation and indeed to put of this till our usual Times of Communicating is to put it off to a time when we can hardly do it well because many things will be forgotten by us or else we shall be overwhelmed with too great a multitude There is not one but will find Work enough at the End of one week to call to mind how his heart has been disposed his tongue imployed and what good or evil Deeds he hath done with the several Circumstances belonging unto them during that time and how imperfect an Account of these things then can they give to themselves and to Almighty God who are to look back a full Quarter of a Year and to call all their wayes to remembrance let this therefore I pray thee at least as often as I have said and though thou can'st not be so happy as to communicate thus often yet this will in some measure supply the want of it and put thee into a better disposition to give thy self to God in the Holy Communion and to unite thy self more firmly to him I must confess I am not able to promise thee but thou wilt discern many failings when thou comest thus to examine thy self though thou hast been ever so careful to keep close to God and to demean thy self as God's but yet let not this discourage thee in the least because thou hast to
render thee meet to be a partaker of it Coloss 1.12 Would'st not thou wonder to see the pleasant Vine degenerate into a sorry Thistle and the fruitful Olive into an unprofitable Bramble And what dost thou less if being a Christian thou dost live like a Heathen if being in the Spirit thou dost walk after the Flesh and mind the things of the Flesh Was it not a most dreadful Curse that drove the great King Nebuchadnezzar out of his stately Palace into the Fields amongst the Beasts to eat grass like the oxen Dan. 4 And dost not thou make his Curse to be thy own choice when being a Child of God an Heir of the Kingdom of Heaven which is more than to be Emperor of the whole Earth thou dost set thy heart upon this dunghil World and hast no esteem or relish of Heavenly things If with prophane Esau thou sellest thy Birthright for a mess of Pottage and despising thy Eternal Inheritance desirest to have thy Portion only in this life The reason of all this is plain enough and I hope will be readily acknowledged by thee But however it is impossible but thou must confess that thou art obliged to perform thy Promises and to pay thy Vows unto the most High and that since thou hast given up thy self to God thou hast not the least power over thy self but oughtest to live altogether to him If thou hast an ill opinion of thy Neighbour and that justly when he is not as good as his word to thee how can'st thou but condemn thy self when thou breakest thy Vows unto the Lord and if when any Prophane thing has been offered to God and consecrated by Prayer and Ceremonies and serves to Holy and Divine Administrations thou esteemest it as separated from common Use and callest it Sacrilege and Prophaness to imploy it in common ways art not thou thy self guilty of the highest Sacrilege when being Dedicated and Consecrated to God by Baptism thou dost withdraw thy self from him and never imployest thy self for him nor referrest thy self unto him The Apostle tells us That we are not our own because we are bought with a price i.e. the Blood of the Son of God 1 Cor. 6. v. 19 20. and I add to it because we have likewise given up our selves to him that bought us and therefore there is the greatest reason that we should glorisie him in our Bodies and our Spirits which are God's It was the Saying of a Devout Man many years ago ' That it had been better for us never to have been than to dwell in our selves and to our selves and we shall find it too true one day if forgetting our state and Profession and Obligation as we are Christians we do live to our selves and not to God But this leads to a third Consideration viz. CHAP. III. Containing a third Argument to a Holy Life from the general Consideration of a future Judgment COnsider that there will a time come when thou must give an exact account of thy life and actions and it shall be known to all the world how thou hast demeaned thy self both as a Man and Christian Dear Brother believest thou the Scriptures I know thou do'st and thou hast the greatest reason in the world to do so Observe therefore what they tell thee concerning that account which thou art to make and then consider whether there be no reason enough why thou should'st be careful to lead a Virtuous and Holy Life It is a mighty encouragement indeed to us in well doing that our Saviour is to be our Judge for he who loved his Enemies so as to die for them will never forget the good works of those whom he does call his friends John 15.14 but lest ny of us should be so unwise as to make this an Argument for a licentious and careless way of living promising our selves much favour from him and an easie account at the Day of Judgment he hath told us frequently that he purposes to proceed severely with us and to shew no favour but what may consist with the exactest Justice And it well deserves our observation that though he was the mildest and mercifullest Person alive and expressed the greatest tenderness and love to sinful men that ever was insomuch that his Enemies cast it as a reproach upon him that he was a friend to Publicans and Sinners yet he never spake of the Day of Judgment but with great severity nor of himself as the Judg of the world but in such words as altogether exclude that fond partiality which wicked men expect from him at that day Thus in one place he represents himself to be an austere and hard man and tells us That he expects to reap where he did not sow and to gather where he did not straw i.e. He will expect and require from us when he comes to Judg us an Increase of those Talents which he hath entrusted us with and if we have not improved them to his advantage he will first take them away from us and then cast us into a Prison of darkness where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Math. 25 26 27. and we may note there that it is with the unprofitable Servant the Servant that brought him no Increase that he will deal so severely and therefore how rigorously may we believe he will deal with those that do mispend his Talents and make no Use of them but to his dishonour In the same Chapter likewise we find him no less severe to five foolish Virgins whom he shuts for ever out of Heaven because they had no oyl with their Lamps and were not ready exactly at the hour though it was midnight to meet the Bridegroom v. 12. In another place he condemns to everlasting misery not only those who accept not his invitation to his Marriage-Feast but those likewise that came to it without wedding garments Math. 22. v. 12 13. and in the 7th Chapter of the same Gospel he declares That this shall be the portion of all the workers of iniquity though they have called him Lord and prophesied in his Name and cast out Devils and done many wonderful works that is though they have professed themselves his Disciples and Servants and done some things which the world accounts great for his honour yet he will not own them and though they make fiar Pleas for themselves and beg his mercy and favour with the greatest earnestness and importunity yet he will have no regard unto them but banish them for ever from him All this and much more than this hath our Blessed Saviour told us by way of Parable and he hath no where encouraged us to hope for any thing more easie and favourable when he speaks plainly of it and without a Parable He hath let us know in plain words that he will judg our works nay our very words also and require an account not only of our filthy and ungodly Speeches but of our idle our vain and unprofitable discourses likewise
and no less unmoveable shall we be to all the temptations of the Devil if we be but perfectly mortified and resigned These are great advantages but there is yet one more no less considerable in the esteem of some men viz. that this will raise us up above all the Troubles perplexities and sorrows of this miserable World so that let what will come upon us here it shall never be able to hurt us For whence have all the evil things of the World as we are wont to call them their Sting and edge but from our unrenounced selves our unmortified lusts and passions we will be something we will do every thing and every thing must be as we will have it but in the event we find we are nothing and that we can do ntohing and the stubborn things will not comply with with us and therefore we are troubled we are in pain we are overwhelmed with grief and sorrow This is an Evil that hath no Remedy but Self-Denial and resignation to God and this is a Remedy that never fails When we have put off our selves as we ought and disengaged our affections from all earthly things and can give God leave to dispose of his own Creatures and to govern his own World then weshall be in Peace then we shall be happy and not till then then nothing can go against us because we shall be willing to comply with every thing By this time I hope I have perfectly reconciled thee to this Duty and that thou art resolved to put it in Practice It remains now that I shew thee as briefly as may be how to do it And § 3. Because thou wilt certainly meet with many and great difficulties in thy first Endeavours and the difficulties will be the more and the greater by how much the more thou hast loved thy Self and the World formerly and hast been accustomed to please thy self and to indulge thy affections it willb e necessary 1. That thou enter upon the Practice of it with the strongest convictions that possibly can be both of the necessity and reasonableness of it and that thou arm thy self with such considerations as may beat down all oppositiion and effectually encourage thee against all the difficulties thou can'st encounter with To this purpose thou may'st make Use of all that I have already said and of many other things which my Design will not permit me to give an account of And after this manner may'st thou discourse with thy own heart concerning it I am told That I must deny my self and forsake the World and take up my Cross if I will be a true Christian I am told it by Christ himself and if I do not believe him why do I call him my Lord and profess to trust in him as my Saviour I know that his words have been ocnfirmed and are confirmed dayly by a thousand Instances nay I my self am an unhappy Instance of the truth of them having made but little progress in Christian knowledge and less in Christian vertue meerly for Want of a serious Regard unto them But if I do believe them why do I not practise accordingly Does not my everlasting happiness depend upon my being a Christian indeed and can I reasonably stick at any thing that is needful for the securing my self of that Is it fit that such a poor derivative thing as I am should take upon me to be absolute and independent What have I done for my self heretofore and what can I do for my self hereafter that I should prefume to please my self or seek my self in any thing I cannot add one Inch to my Stature I cannot make one hair white or black I cannot do my self the least Good nor remove from my self the lightest Evil and shall I take upon me to do my own Will without respect to him by whom alone I am and without whose influence and Blessing I can do nothing And what is the World that I should set my heart upon it and prefer it before my God and Saviour did my Love of it ever do me any Good or will it do me any without God's Blessing or when I am to leave it that I should cleave at present so close unto it I know that it is God alone that give me any portion in it that gives me any comfort by it and I Know that he can deprive me of both when he pleases And there fore I shall be not only a Rebel but a fool if I resign not my self and it to him and say not whatever is laid upon me It is the Lord let him do whatsoever seemeth good unto him Come therefore O my heart let us be no longer Rebels against Heaven and enemies to our own Happiness we are not our own we are not the Worl's but we are God's we are Christ's and therefore let God dispose of us as he will and let him give those worldly things to whom he pleases so that we may have his favour and enjoy it for ever O naughty self how do I detest thee for taking so mcuh upon thee as thou hast done hitherto O vain O transitory World I abhor thee I renounce thee utterly court me no more with thy sottish Pleasures withthly glittering bravery with thy deceitful Shows I am now dying and I will be for ever dead unto thee that I may follow Christ and live unto my God Favour these good desires favour them with thy Grace O my god and suffer not a Soul that earnestly aspires towards thee to fall short of thee With these and such like thoughts thou wilt do well to enter upon the Practice of this duty But then I advise thee 2. To do as much as thou can'st to keep these and the like thoughts continually in thy mind However sail not to begin every day with them When thou first beholdest the light in the morning after thou hast sent up thy heart to God in some short acknowledgements of his mercy towards thee tell thy heart That thou hast by God's goodness another dayadded to thy life which thou must imploy for him and his service who hath bestowed it on thee and not for the pleasing of thy self and the satisfying of thy Lusts and charge it as it will answer for it at the great day that it take care to do it accordingly The like thoughts and resolutions will do well again about noon and indeed at any time of the day and the oftner they return into thy mind the more easily and speedily wilt thou come to that perfect resignation which thou art concerned to aim at But yet further 3. It will behove thee to be frequent in Exercises of Mortification and Self-Denyal Restrain thy wonted Liberties and deny thy self thy accustomed Satisfactions acquaint thy self sometimes with hardships and turn not alwayes away from sufferings remembring that thou art a Soldier under the Ensign of the Cross and therefore must not be nice and tender soft and delicate Mortifie thy Senses and accustome them
profitable and minister Grace unto the Hearers Ephes 4.29 and Colos 6.4 and why we should think that it becomes us to use that unprofitable not to say that corrupt Communication which dayly proceeds from our Mouths without having any respect to the edifying of one another in that which is good I cannot understand 5. Meditating frequently upon the good things we read and hear This is another means for the improvement of our Knowledge in the things of God and it is so necessary that without it all the rest will avail us but very little for this is the chewing or tather the digesting of what we read and hear it is that which implants those notices of things which we have got into our heads in our hearts and makes them to bring sorth those good Fruits which in their own Nature they are fit to do Mich. de Montaign It was a good Observation of a great man some years ago That in all humane sects there were never any what difficulty or strangeness soever their Doctrine maintained but would in some sort conform their Behaviour and square their Lives unto it whereas this Divine and Heavenly Institution which we pretend to prefer before all Doctrines that ever were in the World seldom makes Christians but by the tongue of which this Reason may be given as pertinent to our present business that those being in Love with their Doctrines how absurd soever they were either because they were of their own Invention or because they had their first Inventors in great admiration did so exercise their thoughts upon them that their Souls could not but receive such Impressions from them as appeared in their outward Behaviour whereas most of those that are called Christians having no such kindness for this Heavenly doctrine or the Author of it do never employ their thoughts about it or if they do it is so seldom and in so sleight and careless a manner that it cannot work any good effect upon them Did they meditate dayly upon it as holy David did upon God's Law Psal 119.97 did they examine its truth did they weigh its Goodness did they apply it to themselves and make tryal of its Force and Power upon their Souls they would be so fashioned to the Image and Likeness of it as to be known by their Lives and Conversations from all other men Thou must be frequent then in the Use of this mean and let no day pass thee without spending some time in it and if thou art in such Circumstances at any time that thou must either omit to read good Books or to meditate I advise thee to omit that rather than this for he that reads but little and meditates much will be a wiser and better man than he that reads much and meditates none or but very little 6. Prayer This is a means which must accompany all the rest and ought never to be omitted for certain it is that we can know no more of God than we are taught by him if he do not manifest himself unto us if he do not enlighten our Minds and assist our Endeavours we shall advance but little by all we can do The Psalmist tells us that it is God that teacheth men Knowledge Psal 94.10 and St. Paul tells us That Wisdom and Knowledge are the Gifts of his Spirit 1 Cor. 12.8 and if we desire that Spirit or those Gifts we must ask for them for thus did the Holy men of old as the Scripture assures us Psal 25.4 v. Psal 119.66 v. And this the Apostle St. Paul taught us to do when he prayed for the Colossians That they might besilled with the Knowledge of God in all Wisdome and spiritual Vnderstanding That they might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing being fruitsul in every good Work and encreasing in the Knowledge of God Coloss 1.9 10. And then in the last place 7. There is another means of improving our Knowledge of as great Use though little thought of as any of the former viz. the making a right Use of that which we know by applying it to practice and regulating our Lives and Conversations according to it by thus using what we know we shall come to know it better for there is no Knowledge comparable to that which we call experimental and he that tasts how good the Lord is and how good the things of God are which is the word by which the Psalmist expresses this Knowledge Psal 34.8 v. knows them as much better than others do as they that tast the sweetness of Honey know it better than they that have only heard of it Besides by this Use of what we know we are put into a better disposition to know those things which as yet we know not for as some of the old Heathen wise men were wont to say as no eye can behold the Sun if it hath not the Image of the Sun in it so no man is capable of understanding the things of God but he whose Soul is in some measure sashioned to the likeness of God and this is confirmed by a more skilful man in Divine things than the wisest of them I mean St. Paul who tells us that the Natural or animal man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned 1. Corin. 2.14 which assertion is grounded upon this truth That there must be some conformity between the knowing faculty and the thing to be known or else there can be no Knowledge and therefore if we do not improve that little Knowledge which we have by the light of Nature according to those small Remains of God's Image in us to the mortifying of our naughty corrupt affections and if we use not those external Helps to that light which God gives to the spiritualizing of our Minds we can never truly understand the things of the Spirit whereas doing this we shall be able to judge or to discern them clearly And this is that which our great Master teaches us John 7.17 where he shews us what we must do to attain a true and saving Knowledge of his Doctrine if any man will do his Will he shall know of my Doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of my self and in another place to encourage us to the Practical Use of what we know he tells us He that keepeth my Commandements he it is that loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and manifest my self unto him John 14.21 v. Thus have I shewed thee how thou must endeavour to improve thy self in the Knowledge of God I now proceed to give thee some further Advice CHAP. V. Sect. 1. Containing a Fifth Advice To live alwayes as in God's Sight with the great Vsefulness of this to promote a Holy Life Sect. 2. Containing some Directions for the Practice of this Duty of Living alwayes as in God's Sight § 1. TThou must live alwaies
to them in sustaining preserving and disposing of them And does he thus lye open to thee in every thing and has he made thee capable of discerning him and wist thou take no notice of him far be it from thee But then 3. Thou must not only behold God in every thing but thou must behold him in every thing looking upon thee observing what Regard thou hast to him what Respect thou bearest him and how thou demeanest thy self before him as thy Heart must tell thee wheresoever thou art and whatsoever thou lookest upon that God is there so it must tell thee likewise that there God seeth thee God is with thee every where and his Eyes are alwaies upon thee be thou also at all times with God by an actual Remembrance of him and the Application of thy mind unto him The people of Israel committed great wickedness because they said in their hearts God hath forsaken the Earth and the Lord seeth not Ezek. 9.9 do thou bring thy heart to tell thee the Contrary in all thy wayes and that will restrain thee from every evil thing But then to make this Practice both more profitable and more pleasant to thee thou wilt do well in the last place 4. To accustom thy self to frame some Acts of Love upon every apprehension of God's presence and in all Humility of Soul to offer them unto him As God is worthy of the greatest Love of our Souls so in every thing we look upon he appears to be so and therefore it is very fit that we should express our selves tob e sensible of it by some Acts of Love as often as any thing presents him to our minds now these Acts may be made several wayes I will set thee down some of the chiefest of them to the end that thou may'st more readily lay hold upon all occasions that are offered thee for so good an Exercise They may be made 1. By way of Admiration and Transport Thus O God how great is thy Majesty how great is thy Goodness towards the Sons of men what manner of Love is that wherewiht thou hast loved us O the depth of the Riches both of the Wisdome and Knowlede of God! how unsearchable are his Judgments and his wayes past finding out said St. Paul Rom. 11.33 2. By way of Esteem and Preference Thus may'st thou say as a devout man was wont My God and all things and as another None but Christ None but Christ and as the Psalmist Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee Psal 73.25 and again There be many that say Who will shew us any Good but Lord lift thou up the Light of thy Countenance upon us Psal 4.6 3. By way of Protestation and Resolution Thus St. Peter thrice to his dear Lord and Master Lord thou knowest that I love thee John 21.15 Thus the Psalmist I will love thee O Lord my strength Psal 18.1 v. and in another Psalm I have sworn and I will perform it that I will keep thy Righteous judgments Psal 119.106 4. By way of Desire and Aspiration Thus may'st thou say with a Holy Father Let me find thee O the Desire of my Heart let me possess thee O Love of my Soul Let me hold thee fast for ever in the very midst of my heart Oblessed Life O Sovereign sweetness of my Soul St. August or with the Psalmist As the Heart panteth after the water-brooks so panteth my Soul after thee O God my Soul thirsteth for God for the living God when shall I come and appear before God Psal 42.1 2. When will the Lord call home his baished when shall I return to my Father's House 5. By way of Oblation and Resignation As thus Lord I am thine I am thine by a thousand Titles and I will be thine and none but thine for ever thine I am thine is all I have and therefore to thee do I resign my seli and all 6. By way of Humiliation and Annihilation Thus good Jacob I am not worthy of the least of all thy Mercies Genes 32.10 and thus Holy Job behold I am vile chap. 40.4 and thus likewise the Psalmist Lord what is man that thou takest Knowledge of him or the Son of man that makest account of him Man is like to vanity his dayes are as a shadow that passeth away Psal 144.3 4. v. What art thou O Lord and what am I Surely thou art the fulness of Being but I am nothing 7. By way of Confidence and Religance upon God Thus can a Woman forget her sucking Child that she should not have compassion on the Son of her Womb yea thy may forget but God will not forget his people Though my Father and Mother forsaketh me yet the lord will take me up though I perish yet will I trust in him He cloaths the Lillies of the Field and seeds the Fouls of the Air and will he not feed and cloath me He hath given me his only begetten Son and will he not with him give me all things 8. By way of Benediction and Praise Thus Great is the Lord and worthy to be praised yea his Name is exalted above all Blessing and Praise All thy works shall praise thee O Lord and all thy Saints shall bless thee Whil'st I live I will praise the Lord I will sing Praises unto God whil'st I have any Being These are some of the wayes wherein Holy men have been wont to express and exercise their Love to God and in some or other of these I would have thee to be continually exercising and expressing thine according as occasion is given thee or as the things that bring God to hy Mind do direct and lead thee Thou wilt not be long accustomed to these Practices but thou wilt be sensible of such Advantage by them as no words of man can express thou wilt perceive thy heart to be more closely united to God every day than other and wilt have such a sense of his Love continually upon thy Soul as will make all the Changes of thy Life comfortable and fill thee oftentimes with joy that can be compared to none but those of the Saints in Heaven The truth is we are never more like to those blessed Spirits than when we are thus employed for what do they but contemplate the Beauty of his Majesty and make Acts of Love to him But here 's the difference they see him clearly as he is they behold his unveiled Face and consequently exercise their Love with the greatest forvors and partake of the highest joyes whereas we beholding him only in the Glass of his Creatures are much more cold in our Love and therefore less happy in our joyes I can foresse but one thing that thou can'st object against these exercises viz. that they will be a hindrance to thy Worldly Business But this one Word may serve to remove For these being works of the Soul which is an active and most nimble substance and
whose office it is to take Care of Souls And those that are ready to follow the Conduct and Counsel of every one that will take upon him to be their Guide or Instructor are not much less to be blamed than those that will commit their Souls to none and therefore thou art to take the greatest Care and to use the best Skill thou hast in the choice of thy Guide and because it is a matter of no little difficulty to make a right Choice it will not I hope be thought impertinent to give thee some assistance And 1. I advise thee to betake thy self to thy Closet and to beg of God to direct thee in thy Choice Though thou hast ever so much Skill in judging of men yet it is possible that in this Case thou may'st be deceived and the more thou trustest to thy own Skill the greater danger thou art in of being deceived God usually suffering those that have a great opinion of themselves to misearry in their best Undertakings and therefore in this as well as in other things thy security lies in an humble Confidence in God's direction which thou art to beg of him by fervent Prayer and though the Blessing be great yet thou hast no Reason to doubt but thou shalt obtain it if thou do'st ask aright for since he hath done so much for thy Soul already He will not deny thee any thing thou may'st be confident that he knows to be necessary for its Welfare and Happiness If any of you lack Wisdome saith St. James let him ask of God who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not and it shall be given him chap. 1. v. 5. And what greater Wisdome can'st thou desire than that which may enable thee to chuse to good Guide except it be that which may enable thee to follow him when thou hast made Choice of him which thou art also to ask to God But then 2. Though thou must not confide in thy own Skill but in the Assistance and Direction of Almighty God yet since his Assistance and Direction can be expected only in a rational way it will behove thee to make Use of that Skill which God giveth thee and that with as much Care as if thy Success depended altogether upon it This in other matters thou thinkest thy self bound to do and I can see no Reason why thou shouldest not be of the same Mind in this Case Thou must therefore look out into the World and consider who among those Guides of Souls that are known to thee is most fit to be trusted and if thou do'st desire the opinion of some serious and discreet Friends as thou art wont to do when thou needest a Physitian for thy Body or a Lawyer for settling thy Estate I think thou wilt do very well only let me caution thee That thou do not presume to make Judgment of any one with whom thou art not throughly acquainted for otherwise though it is possible thou may'st hit right yet it is two to one that thou wilt be deceived which will be a fault that will admit of no Excuse And the same caution thou art to take in receiving the judgments of others which thou wilt not think to be needless if thou do'st consider That as some few have a better Repute in the World than they do deserve so others have a worse and it is commonly observed that many excellent men have suffered very much from many meerly because they have given Credit to the Reports of those who were never intimately acquainted with them and yet have presumed to pass their Censures on them But to help thee as much as I can in this matter which is really of very greato Importance to thee it will not be amiss to give thee a short Account of the Qualifications and Properties of a good Guide referring thee for further Instruction to the Epistles of St. Paul to Timothy and Titus And 1. A good Guide is one that hath received Authority from Christ to take Care of Souls not immediately from Christ but mediately i.e. by imposition of hands from some Bishop of the Church who in a constant Succession from the Apostles of our Lord had Authority to give it As for those that pretend to derive Authority immediately from Christ thou must look upon them as Impostors till they can shew those Testimonials of their Authority which the Apostles did viz. the Gifts of Tongues and Miracles and if their Learning and seeming Piety should chance to incline thee to believe otherwise of them it behoves thee to cal to Mind that Caution which Christ hath given thee Matth. 7.15 Beware of false Prophets which come to you in Sheeps-Cloathing but inwardly they are ravening Wolves And as for those that pretend to Authority derived by the hands of some of the Inferiour Ministers in the Church which are now and have been for many hundred years called Presbyters and by that name distinguished from Bishops thou may'st upon the same grounds on which thou hast received thy Christianity believe them to pretend to that which they have not for it is certain by unquestionable Records that for above fifteen hundred years there was no such Authority allowed or acknowledged in Presbyters by the Church of Christ and as for those in this last Age that did first pretend to this Authority and did take upon them to confer it upon others by imposition of their hands it is certain that all the Authority they had or could confer they received from Bishops which was only an Authority to preach the Word and administer the Sacraments according to the Rules of the Gospel the Canons of the Church and this in Subordination to their Bishops and not an Authority to ordain others in opposition to their Bishops and therefore if it be true That none can give that which they have not to give and that none can be presumed to have received that which was never given them as certainly it is thou hast great reason to believe that those persons whom I now speak of have no Authority from Christ to take care of Souls And then in the last place for those that call themselves the Ministers of Christ and pretend to have been so by the declared Consent of a small number of people combined together under the name of a Church thou mayest believe them to be what they call themselves when they can prove That the Apostles of our Lord were the peoples Ministers and not Christ's I mean That they did receive their Authority from the People and not from Christ Now if these men have no Authority from Christ they have no Promise of Christ's presence assistance and Blessing in those Exercises they take upon them to perform in his Name and if they have no Promise of Christ's Presence or Blessing thou hast no Reason to give up thy self to their Conduct Thou may'st perhaps hear them speak many good things of themselves and their followers and make great