the Apprehensions of God and the Obligations of Religion have a deeper Root and a stronger Influence on us We must not imagine God demands our Prayers and Thanksgivings as if he received any Benefit from them any Addition to his Happiness was fond to hear himself entreated and commended or was not of himself willing to do us good but must be overcom'd as it were through meer Importunity by many repeated Addresses But Experience teaches us how apt they are to create in us a vigorous sence of God our Duty and Eternal Interest and how necessary to preserve it since any considerable neglect therein bereaves us by degrees of that devout and zealous Temper which is the chief Root of all true Holiness and Vertue It was not for nothing our Blessed Saviour spent so many hours both day and night in Meditation and Prayer It was not for nothing he set so good an Example to us and gave us an express Command to watch and pray alwaies Luke 21.36 and his Apostle after him exhorts us to continue in Prayer and watch in the same with Thanksgiving Col. 4.2 Would not one guess Christians after this to be the most devout men in the World and the most constant in Prayer Yet 't is nothing so He had not the advantage of the Gospel of Christ that sang unto God I have remembred thy Name O Lord in the night and have kept thy Law seven times a day do I praise thee in the night-season I am not silent I call to remembrance my Song in the night I commune with mine own Heart and my Spirit makes diligent search Psal 119.55 164. Ps 22.2 77.6 Even the Mahumetans we are told fearing that a whole Night would cause too great an Interval between their Devotions interrupt their Sleep and rise constantly every night to spend some of that time in Prayer But we who have the Son of God for our Master and Teacher nay for our Guide and Pattern we that are commanded to pray without ceasing 1 Thess 5.17 that is constantly how cold and careless are we in the performance of this Duty There are but few of those that call themselves Christians will spend so much as an hour in the day in God's Service If ever they pray God 't is but by Fits And how uneasie and unattentive are the most part of them all the while Strange We scandalize our Neighbours and those we live and converse with often perhaps in a day It would make some reparation if presently after we gave them the Marks of our Sorrow and Repentance by our Devotion and the constancy earnestness and fervency of our Prayers But alas how little is this minded What makes us so dull and sottish in the things that concern the Service of God and the eternal Salvation of our Souls when we are so sagacious so earnest and vigilant about poor momentany concerns For shame let 's no longer be so very childish and foolish If we 'll act seriously and rationally to mean and do as we profess we must either renounce the Name of Christ or become new Creatures that we may be holy as our Blessed Lord is holy and as his Divine Religion indispensably obligeth us to be There are a great many that name the Name of CHRIST who rise eat and drink follow their Worldly Business lye down at night and scarce ever think of God all the while tho they cannot subsist one moment without Him and they receive from Him daily nay hourly innumerable Benefits They pretend to be the Disciples and Followers of the Son of God and yet they are perfect Strangers with God It 's no wonder therefore there is so little Zeal so little Charity and so much Malice and Wickedness to be seen among those that are called Christians But it is not to be question'd we should soon see with the Blessing of God that primitive Christian Purity break forth and shine again in the midst of us if Men would be perswaded to use constant Devotions in their Families Many excuse themselves as if they were not able or had not the Time and Opportunity to perform them Yet they can find the time and opportunity to meet together for their Repasts Morning and Evening And why not to pray God and consult his Word Are the Concerns of this World and this Body so precious as to be more worth than our Souls And is it not strange that those that have the Word of God in their Hands and have often heard it read and expounded should not know what great Obligation God has laid and daily heaps on them for which they are to thank him and praise his Holy Name what Failings they have been subject to which they are to beg Pardon for and pray against that they may never be guilty of them and what things they stand in need of which they are to beg of God And do they not know we are to pray one for another 1 Tim. 2.1 and are commanded to make Supplications Prayers Intercessions and Thanksgivings for all men Let none think to excuse himself because he is not eloquent Out of the abundance of the Heart the Mouth speaketh Luke 6.45 He that cannot pray cannot be a Christian There 's no man tho' never so mean but can reason pertinently of his Business It is a sign he doth not look upon Religion as his Business that can say nothing of it But are Scholars only and Learned men commanded to pray Or is it a Duty incumbent upon All And is it our Words and Phrases God looks at and not the pious Dispositions of our Souls rather In fine Has not our Church put most excellent Prayers into our Hands And have we minded them so little all this while as to remember nothing of them That those that shall meet with these Papers may be absolutely without Excuse I conclude with a Prayer that may serve both for Morning and Evening They that have so much Piety as not to think that time lost which is spent in Devotion will not complain of its length And as for them that are otherwise dispos'd it 's no matter what they shall think of it I have but one thing to add by way of Caution to those that shall use this or any other Form of Prayer that is To take care they let not their Tongue run faster than their Understanding but considering to whom it is they speak namely to Him who is to be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth let their Hearts ever accompany their Words and then they may be sure that the LORD who is far from the Wicked will hear the Prayer of the Righteous Prov. 15.29 FINIS ☞ By Mistake at the Press the Recapitulation which should have followed next after the Discourse c. is put after the Prayer Books Printed for William Rogers A Perswasive to frequent Communion in the Holy Sacrament of the Lords Supper 12o. The eighth Edition price bound six pence in 8º stitcht 3 d. A Sermon preach'd before the King and Queen at Whitehall the 27. of October being the day appointed for a publick Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the signal Victory at Sea for the preservation of His Majesty's Sacred Person and for his sase Return to his People 4. Both by the most Reverend Father in God John Lord Archbishop of Canterbury Of the Wisdom and Goodness of Providence two Sermons preached before the Queen at Whitehall on Aug. 17. 24. 1690. 4 to Of Religious Melancholy a Sermon preached before the Queen at Whitchall March 6. 1691 2. Both by the Right Reverend Father in God John Lord Bishop of Norwich A Practical Discourse concerning Death in 8o. price 3 s. in 12o. price 2 s. A Practical Discourse concerning a Future Judgment 8o. The Charity of Lending without Usury and the true Notion of Usury briefly stated In a Sermon preached before the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor at St. Bridget's Church on Tuesday in Easter-week 1692. 4o. These three by William Sherlock D. D. Dean of St. Pauls Master of the Temple and Chaplain in ordinary to Their Majesties The necessity of Serious Consideration and Speedy Repentance as the only way to be safe both living and dying 8o. price 1 s. 6 d. The Folly of Atheism demonstrated to the Capacity of the most unlearned Reader 8o. price 1 s. 6 d. The Lambs of Christ fed with the Sincere Milk of the Word in a short Scripture-Catechism in 12o. price 6 d. These three by the Reverend Mr. Clement Elis Rector of Kirkby in Nottingham-shire
but omitted at Night Give us Grace to do and undertake nothing but what we are sure is agreeable to thy Will and to thy Glory and the Salvation of our Souls and then let thy Blessing be upon all our Endeavours O may we so live that we may be always prepared for Death * This to be said at Night Grant us a comfortable Rest and Sleep that we may be the better fit for our Duty the next Day And give us Grace O Lord when we lie down in our Beds always to remember that the time will shortly come when we shall lie down in our Graves that by serious thoughts and a holy Life we may timely prepare for our Death So that whenever it comes we may not feel the Horrours and Torments of a guilty Mind but may be fit and content to leave this World and looking upon Death only as a Passage to a far better we may receive it with that Resolution and Constancy as becomes them that hope for Eternal Life Grant this O most merciful Father for the Blessed Jesus his sake who has taught us when we pray thus to say Our Father c. The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with us all evermore Amen THE RECAPITULATION WITH A Prayer and an Exhortation TO ALL Who desire to lead Christian Lives to be constant in PRAYER REpentance is a change of Mind that shews it self to be read by all our Actions which then are contrary to our former Practices Nothing absolutely can be Repentance in religious Matters but an actual forsaking of Sin ceasing to do evil and learning to do well Isa 1.16.17 and contracting all the Habits of Vertue Christianity is a state of Purity and Holiness It is Repentance perfected and an entire Conformity to the Will of God The three general Heads of the Christian Religion are Piety towards God Justice towards all Men And Sobriety in respect of our selves That is the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven and that Heavenly Constitution and Government which is agreeable to the Nature of God and is as much unalterable as his Nature It is therefore impossible for a Man to be a Christian that is a faithful Subject of the kingdom of Heaven if he has not repented of all his Sins since to be a Christian is to live soberly righteously and godly Tit. 2.11 12 13 14. from a Principle of Faith in Jesus Christ in Obedience to his Commands and in Expectation of his Promises No Doctrine can be more antichristian more contrary to nor more destructive of the Design of the Gospel than such as encourage Vice or allow Men in a loofe way of living They are infinitely mistaken who fancy the Essence of Religion to consist in Speculation and not in Practice Saving Faith is an operative Faith a faith that worketh by charity Gal. 5.6 The end of Revelation is our Sanctification 1 Thess 4.1 2 3 c. The turning us away from our iniquities Acts 3.26 which otherwise would prove our ruine Ezek. 18.30 It is therefore a gross Error to think there 's any thing revealed that has no Influence upon Practice and is not designed and conducive to the Conversion of the World and the Amendment of our Manners Those then that undervalue and vilifie Morality vilifie and undervalue the Christian Faith and Religion We see plainly in Scripture that the end of Faith is Holiness it is required to no other end than that believing we might have life John 20.31 Which is not to be attained unto without holiness for without it no man shall see the Lord Heb. 11.14 and none but the just shall live by faith Hebr. 10.38 For that which is altogether just we must follow and we must seek good and do God's commandments that we may live Dent. 16.20 Amos 5.14 Matth. 19.17 Luk. 10.28 and true Morality is true Religion For true Morality is an enaxt Conformity of our Lives and Actions of our Thoughts Words and Deeds to the eternal Laws of right Reason naturally that is by God himself imprinted upon our Consciences and as it were reprinted and that more deeply by the Gospel of his Son Our grand Business therefore is to study from our Duty from a Principle of Faith to have it persect and to practise it accordingly As we have any serious Concern for our Souls we must neglect nothing that is necessary and conducive to that end to the purifying that is of our Spirits and making us holy We must prosecute the means of Grace with all the Earnestness and Diligence imaginable For it is but a folly to pretend to the Name of Christians if we do not live according to the Rules of Christianity and do not govern our selves according to the Laws of the kingdom of Heaven Repentance is but the Preparative to Christianity He that intends to live the Devil 's Subject as long as he can enjoy his Life and Health though he is loath to have his Portion with the Devil in the other World and designs to repent upon his Death bed is resolved not to be a Christian whilst he lives The Design of the Christian Religion is to make Men as Good and Holy as it is possible for Men to be And our blessed Saviour has taught us expresly that it is not the crying Lord Lord will serve to enter into the kingdom of Heaven but the doing of the will of God Matth. 7.21 As we desire then to be admitted one Day into Heaven Let us from this Moment conform to its Divine Laws and let us detest and abhor all those Antichristian Traditions which make the commandments of God of none effect Matth. 15.6 God hath not called us unto uncleanness but unto holiness 1 Thess 4.7 In particular let all that shall be willing to strive to enter into the Gates of Righteousness and shall be perswaded of the Obligation and Necessity of a good Life be constant in Prayer Prayer is not only a Duty of Religion which we cannot omit without a defiance of Christ's Precepts and Authority and a profest Contempt of that great salvation which was spoken by the Lord Hebr. 2.3 But it is also the best means in the World to become truly religious A Man is never entirely reformed till a new Principle governs his Thoughts and nothing makes that Principle so strong as frequent Addresses to God and serious and deep Meditations of his Nature and Will of all the Benefits we have received and do still receive daily from him the Engagements and Obligations we are in to serve and obey him the great Neglect we 've bin guilty of in a Business so vastly concerning and how much reason there is to set more earnestly about it than ever The Effects of such Addresses to God and of such Meditations besides the Grace of God we draw upon us thereby which is promised to our Prayers are very sensible they make very evidently
A Practical Discourse Concerning REPENTANCE And the NATURE OF THE Christian Religion By A. LORTIE Rector of BARTON near Nottingham IMPRIMATUR Oct. ult 1692. Guil. Lancaster R.P.D. Hen. Episc Lond. Ã Sacris LONDON Printed for Will. Rogers at the Sun over-against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet 1693. To My much Honoured Lord and Noble Benefactor The Right Honourable AND Right Reverend Father in GOD HENRY L d Bishop of LONDON One of the Lords of Their Majesties most Honourable Privy-Council c. My LORD THE incomparable Goodness and Affability your Lordship useth towards all not excepting the meanest Persons encourageth me humbly to lay at your Lordship's Feet this plain Practical Discourse which as I have had the comfort to understand that they were edified who heard it so I hope it may be of farther use when more leisurely considered and perhaps may serve to give the common sort of People a clearer and more distinct Notion than they usually have of their indispensable Duty and of that wise and holy Religion which they profess The zeal of doing something towards this before I die according to my little Sphere made me desirous to leave this Discourse with my Parishioners It would be indeed an unspeakable satisfaction to me if it prove any advantage to them but chiefly if your Lordship might condescend so far as to accept it as a Token of my most humble and hearty Gratitude instead of what I should but am not able to perform for the great and many Obligations laid upon my Relations and my self in particular for which we shall ever stand indebted to your Lordship My Lord Your Lordship and all the World knows it very well hath not only been ready upon all Occasions to assert and maintain even with the most eminent danger of your Life your Country's most admirable Laws and Reformation but has been a common Father to all the Persecuted of France who were forc'd to flee from their Native Country How many Souls can declare to the World and shall testifie at the Great Day before our blessed Lord and his holy Angels to your Lordship's immortal Glory that they have tasted of no other Bread in this their Distress but that which your Lordship did put into their hands There my Father will stand with his Family in the fore-front of that vast multitude of the Witnesses of your Lordship's unbounded Charity and we shall thereby convince the World that Christianity was not then lost among Men. In the mean while my Lord I submit my self wholly and this little Treatise to your Lordship assuring your Lordship it is meant candidly and purely for God's Glory and the Salvation of Souls proceeding from a sincerely penitent Heart having studied nothing so much as this Subject these several Years in which I have so often been in a state of dying I shall add no more but this That the chiefest Blessing I shall always ask of GOD and my chiefest Happiness the remainder of my Life will be to see God's Glory further'd and your Noble House my Lord and Yourself in particular prosper and flourish to the Honour and Felicity of this Church and Nation I humbly beg your Lordship's Blessing I am My LORD Your Lordship 's Most Humble most Dutiful and most Obliged Servant A. LORTIE A Practical Discourse Concerning REPENTANCE c. JOHN the Baptist came Preaching as we read Mat. 3.1 2. and saying Repent ye for the kingdom of heaven is at hand That was the Voice that cried before the Messiah Prepare ye the way of the Lord make his paths streight Luk. 3.4 And at the eighth Verse of that Chapter we learn what was to be done in order to that viz. to Repent without any further excuse upon no account whatsoever Repentance indeed is a Duty incumbent upon all Men seeing all have sinned and therefore must certainly be for ever undone except they Repent As the World goes it is a Duty to be insisted upon at all times But if it be specially call'd for at some Seasons more than others it is surely in times of Publick Humiliation when we address our selves to God or he addresses himself to us and whensoever we are call'd to renew our Engagements to Religion All we can do without it is but Hypocrisie and a meer mocking of Almighty God John the Baptist it seems esteem'd it the true and only Preparative for the Christian Religion Repent ye says he for the kingdom of heaven is at hand All Men are therefore highly concern'd to have a right Notion of Repentance otherwise they can never be good Christians I shall endeavour to shew in the following Discourse I. What Repentance is II. What is the Nature of the Christian Dispensation which is call'd the Kingdom of Heaven III. What reason there was to Repent the Kingdom of Heaven being at hand and what reason then there is now we should Repent And IV. I shall represent what manner of Persons are the Subjects of this heavenly Kingdom that we may know assuredly whether we are such or not that if we are we may praise God for it and continue to be so and if we are not we may see what is to be done to become such Then I shall draw some Inferences from the whole First What Repentance is For there are too many in the World take that for Repentance which indeed is no such thing their Hearts being evil and therefore willing to substitute any thing in its room to be excused from it But God is not mocked and their very Consciences were they permitted to speak would cry aloud against them for their unpardonable blindness and folly in mistaking so easily if not wilfully in so clear and plain a matter Some fancy a fence of Sin to be Repentance That is if they are but sensible that they have done what ought not to have been done that they are miserable Sinners and that Sin is a most wretched and odious thing which 't were good never to be guilty of I say if they do but feel themselves sensible of all this then they think they are well enough and are so presumptuous as to hope well of their state tho' they still continue in their sins Others something more modest do not think it sufficient to have a bare fence of sin if withal they do not entertain a hearty sorrow for it But if they do but grieve and weep for their sins they question not but they have made full amends for them altho' they grow never the better but still sin on still complaining and sorrowing for their sins and bemoaning their infirmities But others yet come nearer to the business for to all this they will add vows and resolutions and endeavours They are not only sensible that they have done those things which they ought not to have done they are not only heartily sorry for it but they for malso good resolutions against sin they vow they will endeavour with all their might never to fall into
the same temptations never to commit the faults they have been guilty of never to yield to their lusts again and perhaps they endeavour and that more than once Why these all these are steps towards Repentance But I must tell ye as I shall answer it at the great Day of the Lord all these yet are not Repentance if we go no further than this we do not truly repent we die in our sins and our iniquities shall inevitably be our ruine Say not you have wept sore you have grieved bitterly and perhaps fasted often have shun'd the temptation and avoided the ill company and resisted your lusts as much as ever you could These were excellent means but if we have not overcome our sins if we commit the same faults still what are we the better What we have done is ineffectual we are not then in a state of Repentance What doth it avail to strive to enter in at the straight Gate if Men do not actually enter in thereat For many seek to enter in and yet do not as we read Luke 13.24 Ye did run well who did hinder you Gal. 5.7 So run that ye may obtain 1 Cor. 9.24 When it repented the Lord that he had made man he said I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth both man and beast for it repenteth me that I have made them Gen. 6.6 7. And as the Lord said so he did He had not truly repented to have made 'em if he had not destroyed them For to repent is not barely to wish that what is done had not been done but to take quite contrary measures and undo as far as we repent and as much as we are able that we had done before We read Luke 19.8 when Zacheus the unjust Publican repented he made full restitution of all he had got unjustly that is he entred into a quite opposite course to his former practices He said to our Saviour as soon as he was converted Lord the half of my goods I give to the poor and if I have taken any thing from any man I restore him forufold When the Prophet Isaiah exhorts the People of Israel to Repentance he bids them Cease to do evil and learn to do good Isai 1.17 18. Wash ye make you clean cease to do evil learn to do well seek judgment and relieve the oppressed God himself teacheth us what it is to repent when he says in Ezekiel If the wicked restore the pledge give again that he had robbed walk in the statutes of life without committing iniquity he shall surely live Ezek. 33.15 And John the Baptist teached also plainly enough that neither fair Promises holy Vows and good Resolutions nor even a bare Cessation of evil make up Repentance when he charged the Pharisees and Sadduces that came to his Baptism to bring forth fruits meet for repentance Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance Mat. 3.8 As if like St. James concerning Faith Jam. 2.18 he had bid them shew their Repentance and prove it to be right and true real and sincere by good Works and a holy Life To the Publicans he said Exact no more than that which is appointed you And to the Souldiers Do violence to no man neither accuse any falsly and be content with your wages Luke 3.13 14. And at the eleventh Verse of the same Chapter he says to all them that came to be baptized of him He that has two coats let him impart to him that has none and he that hath meat let him do likewise That was his Doctrine and that 's the Doctrine of Repentance That is in short as if he had said Forsake those sins you have been guilty of be sure you commit them not again but lead godly lives in all vertue and honesty Learn to practice Charity which is the sum of the Divine Laws and then you are right Penitents But this is no more than what our own Consciences dictate to us I 'll refer it to any one that is a Father and has an undutiful Son or to him that hath an Enemy The Father exhorts his Son to leave off his wicked Courses and return to his Duty promising upon those Terms to be very good and kind to him You agree with your Enemy on Condition that all old Quarrels and Animosities shall be forgotten and he shall carry himself civilly towards you for the future to be Friends with him again to pardon him and to love him Now if either such a Son or such an Enemy after a long Complement and many repeated Protestations of Sorrow for what 's past and as many Vows and Promises of a better Behaviour for the time to come If after all this I say they fell to their old ways and grew never a jot the better would you seriously say they have repented If you could not say it why then will you say that you repent when yet you find no change no amendment in you Let this teach us what Repentance is for sure Repentance towards God is not of another nature nor ought to be less than that we would expect from an Enemy or a rebellious Child Away then with all these Pretenders to Repentance which persist still in their sins You have been passionate and revengeful full of malice and bitterness Do you still hate your Brother or your Enemy could you find in your heart to do him an injury would you rejoyce at his calamity would not you be willing to serve him don 't you study the opportunity to shew him how heartily you are reconciled with him can't you abide to see him or to speak with him Why then truly you are not in a state of Repentance You have been an Extortioner or an unjust Man and you have used Tricks and practis'd ill Arts to over-reach and cozen your Neighbours to serve your own Ends. And have you made them amends for it To be plain Have you made full restitution Have you nothing left but what is justly your own Do you use no more these base and cursed Tricks and are you well caution'd against them for the future Had you rather die than wrong any one again Instead of Injustice do you now practise Charity If this be not your Case be not deceived you are not a fit Man for the Kingdom of Heaven You stand in great need of Repentance Have you been an unclean Person or a Drunkard Don't say you are heartily sorry for all your sins and you have striv'd with all your might against them Is it otherwise now with you Are you now chaste and temperate Do you ever withstand the temptation Can you deny the wicked Company that entices you to sin Do you keep your self now pure and sober Had you rather pluck out an Eye or cut off an Hand than offend If this be not your disposition read your Doom except you actually repent and amend 1 Cor. 6.9 10. Neither fornicators nor adulterers nor effeminate nor drunkards shall
at by all God's Dispensations Let us always remember then to make it the end of our Faith Our Saviour tells us The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hid in a field the which when a man has found he hideth and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he has and buyeth that field Matth. 13.44 That is they that will purchase the Kingdom of Heaven must part with all their darling Sins and all their beloved Lusts Christianity is not to be attain'd unto any otherwise O then how many dream of Divine Treasures and Kingdoms fancy they have found the Pearl of great Price and as we say Build Castles in the Air and are still errant Beggars as to the concerns of the everlasting Riches and in the sight of God How many are there in the World call themselves Christians and have nothing at all of it but just the Name They have nothing to shew for their Title to the Kingdom of Heaven but their own false and impudent Claim without any Grounds But we may as well call our selves Jews and Mahometans when we do not observe the Laws of Moses or of the Alcoran as call our selves Christians when we do not live according to the Precepts of the Gospel would you therefore know whether you are Christians Compare your Lives with the Laws of Christianity Our Saviour hath commanded us to let our light shine before men that they may see our good works and glorifie our father which is in heaven Matt. 5.16 And in the following Verses he adds a warning very necessary to this present Generation Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the propbets I am not come to destroy but to fulfil Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach men so he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven For I say unto you that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time Thou shalt not kill and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment And whosoever shall say to his brother Racha shall be in danger of the Council but whosoever shall say Thou fool shall be in danger of hell fire Ye have heard that it was said Thou shalt not commit adultery but I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart If thy right eye offend thee pluck it out and if thy right hand offend thee cut it off It is better for thee that one of thy members should perish than that thy whole body should be cast into Hell Swear not at all Love your enemies Be ye perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect All these we find in the 5th Chapter of St. Matt. and in the 11th of the same Gospel at the 29th Verse Take my yoke upon you says our blessed Saviour and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart We are infinitely unreasonable if we fancy that to be a Christian it is sufficient to own Christ by an outward Profession without actual Obedience to all his Commands He declares expressly Matt. 7.21 That 't is not every one that says unto him Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but he that doth the will of God Yet after all this we have but too much reason still to complain and cry out with the Psalmist Psal 82.5 They will not be learned nor understand but walk on still in darkness all the foundations of the earth are out of course Still Men will needs fancy themselves Christians that is members of the kingdom of Heaven when they are evidently the Subjects of the Kingdom of Darkness How many are there that commit Sin and yet pretend that they are born of God against the positive Declaration of the Apostle St. John 1 Joh. 3.9 But some will say If none were true Christians but those who keep the Commandments of God and do not commit sin who then can be a Christian I answer in the words of our blessed Saviour Matt. 7.14 Straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that find it Few God knows few they are especially in these our days that are true Christians indeed tho' there be many that call themselves by that holy Name But the mischief is the greatest part of them who name the Name of Christ depart not from iniquity and therefore the greatest part of them that call themselves Christans shall find by a sad Experience at the great and terrible Day of the Lord that they have no share in Christ Jesus For either we must not believe the Scriptures or we must be sure that all Drunkards Swearers unjust or uncharitable Persons c. are far from being Christians and yet how many such do we find among the Professors of Christianity What more frequent now a days than Wrath Malice and Revenge Fraud Injustice Drunkenness Swearing and all sort of Sin And still if you believe it we are all Protestants that is the purer sort of Christians But how few notwithstanding all this pretended Purity how few are there among us that are truly humble meek and lowly in heart charitable patient and of long suffering How few are there that do not to others what they would not others should do unto them How few do we see that will bear an affront or an injury without resentment and revenge How few can find in their Hearts to forgive their Enemies How few then love their Neighbours that is all other Men as themselves And yet we may be sure that without all this our Pretentions to Christianity are groundless vain and insignificant But is it then impossible to be a Christian No such matter we read of many in the holy Scriptures that they were just in their Generations and perfect in the sight of the Lord as of Noah Gen. 6.9 Job Job 1.1 David 1 Kings 11.34 14.8 Asa 1 Kings 15.11 Josias 2 Kings 22.2 and Zacharias and Elizabeth Luk. 1.6 Which shews that God doth not expect of us a perfect state of Impeccability but a perfect Sincerity I say a perfect Sincerity We must love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind Matt. 22.37 And therefore we must obey his Commandments and do his will with all the power of our Soul and all the sincerity of our Mind and sure that is not impossible But never flatter your selves that you have done all you can and that you are sincere as long as yon continue in a wicked course of Life Alas you are then worse then Heathens Don't you believe that God affords
the Offers of of Grace when the Kingdom of Heaven is preach'd unto them as our Saviour assures us Luke 10.12 Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children and walk in love as Christ also loved us and has given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness let it not be once named amongst you as becometh saints neither filthiness nor foolish talking nor jesting which are not convenient but rather giving of thanks For this you know or may be sure of that no whoremonger uor unclean person nor covetous man which is an idolater hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God Let no man deceive you with vain words for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience Ephes 5.1 c. Let us not therefore flatter our selves with a conceit of God's singular Favour whilst we are the very Children of Disobedience we must either renounce our Christianity and our Hopes of Heaven or renounce our Sins It is the most ridiculous thing in the Word to pretend to either of the former whilst we continue in the Practice of any evil thing The Lord alloweth the righteous but the ungodly and him that delighteth in wickedness doth his soul abhor Psal 11.6 Since therefore ther 's no other way to obtain God's Favour but in being righteous and forsaking all manner of Wickedness since the very Principles of our Religion oblige us to cease from all that is evil and learn all that is good let us be sure to avoid Sin as Men would the Plague and let us daily grow in grace according to St. Peter's Exhortation 2 Pet. 3.18 Let us be sure whatever Interests we have to serve whatever Dealings we may be ingaged in to be always strictly just and upright Let us never use any ill Tricks to serve our own ends but in all our Transactions with one another let us deal with that Simplicity and Integrity and good Conscience that becomes those who would be accounted the Disciples of the holy Jesus Sin is the Transgression of a known Law Now what a horrid thing is it what Impudence for mortal Men to do that they know is forbidden by the Almighty Governour of the World the righteous and impartial Judge of the Quick and the Dead But I cannot forbear saying it once more What piece of Madness is it for Men to do this and yet pretend to be God's Servants and the Disciples of the Son of his Love whom he has sent into the World a purpose to reform the World and shew the stray'd Race of Mankind the way to true Happiness and Bliss in teaching them to turn from their iniquities as it is Acts 3.26 We do infinitely mistake the Design of his Coming and the Nature of his Religion if we do not believe that it is to make Men much better and holier than they were before and indeed to make them as good and as holy as it is possible for Men to be Let us then study earnestly his whole Will and practice it accordingly least those who have never heard of him should be accounted better than we If we will be truly Christians let it be the earnest Endeavour of our Lives to render our selves as excellent and as exemplary for all sort of amiable Qualities as it is possible for Men to be in this World Whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report If there be any virtue and if there be any praise think on these things Phil. 4.8 See what your Obligations are We that have such a glorious light vouchsafed unto us and such unvaluable Promises and such mighty Assistances made over to us by the Gospel of Christ must in reason imagine that in return of these great Advantages great things are expected from us It will not satisfie our Engagements that we do believe and profess the Gospel that we do no Wrong to our Neighbours that we are neither given to Lewdness nor Drunkenness though yet even these as the World goes are very great things and could all Men that profess Christianity truly say this of themselves we should soon see Heaven upon Earth but our Christianity obliges us to aspire after greater things we must get our selves possessed of the whole Circle of Vertues we must be kind and charitable as well as just and honest we must he modest and meek and humble as well as temperate and chast Then may I add to these excellent Words of an Excellent and most Reverend Prelate of our Church Then will Christ indeed own us for his Disciples for then we shall be true Subjects to God's Kingdom upon Earth and if we continue to be so unto the end we shall not fail at last to be admited into his most glorious Kingdom in Heaven where we shall enjoy the infinite Pleasure of Holiness to everlasting Ages A Morning and Evening PRAYER ALmighty God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the Creator of Men and Angels and the supream Governour of the World in whom and by whom we move we live and have our Beings who shewest thy self to be perfectly Good and Bountiful infinitely wise and glorious and perfectly just and holy We thy poor Creatures prostrate our selves in the deepest Humility of our Souls before thy Divine Majesty to render unto thee the due Tribute of our Homage and Worship and offer the Morning * Evening if it be at Night Evening Sacrifice of our Prayers and Thanksgivings to beg Pardon for all our Sins and Failings and implore thy all-sufficient Grace that we may from henceforth serve thee better than we have done and may daily grow in Grace and in all Christian Vertues and finally to sue for thy Protection and thy most gracious Favour both for our selves and all Men. We confess O Lord we are not worthy to appear before thee to beg any thing at thy Hands For thou O God lovest Righteousness and hatest Iniquity Thou requirest Holiness and art perfect in all thy ways But we are miserable and wretched Creatures who have not minded our Duty as we ought to have done nor regarded thy Word thy Promises nor thy Threatings but have often been so unreasonable as to slight thy Commandments and prefer our Will to thine as if we had not believed that thou knowest what is best for us to do better than we our selves or as if we had not believed that thou searchest our ways and knowest all our Thoughts and wilt judge the World in Righteousness and reward every Man according to his Works at the great and last Day in the which we must all appear before the Judgment-seat of Christ there to receive the things done in our Bodies according as we shall have done whether it be good or bad To us O Lord belongs Shame and
Confusion Everlasting Misery must inevitably be our Portion if thou hast not Compassion upon us For by our Unbelief and Disobedience we have deserved the Flames of Hell and our Folly and Inconsideration hath plunged us into Destruction O good Lord punish us not in thine Anger Suffer us not to perish for ever and fall into the bitter pains of Eternal Death But give us Grace now to repent actually and sincerely of all our Sins And then for the sake of our blessed Saviour be pleased to accept of our hearty and sincere Repentance Be merciful unto us O Lord be merciful unto us who are grieved for our Transgressions and are ashamed that we have offended thee Help us to contract such holy Dispositions that we may obtain the Salvation of our Souls Give us thy Holy Spirit we humbly beseech thee that we may perfectly hate and forsake all Sin and love and follow after Righteousness and true Holiness and that instead of our former Carelesness and Neglect of Religion we may now become earnest and diligent in learning and practising thy whole Will being always filled with that Zeal and Devotion which ought to accompany our Prayers that we may obtain thy Grace and Benediction Give us a true Contrition O Lord for all our Sins a deep Veneration for thy great Name a profound Humility a meek and charitable and contented Spirit and entire Trust and Dependance upon thy all-wise Providence and a Christian Hope that may purifie us as thou art pure Give us Grace to be always prepared against all that shall happen unto us in this World resigning our selves entirely into thy Hands Give us the Wisdom that is from above which is pure peaceable gentle and easie to be intreated full of Mercy and of good Fruits O give us that Peace which the World cannot give and which surpasseth all Understanding and fill our Hearts with that blessed Joy which is a continual Feast and a perpetual Comfort and is no where to be found but in a holy Mind and a good Conscience And particularly we pray thee give us a due sence of all thy Benefits that we may never be so ungrateful as to forget how many good things we have received from thee Blessed be thou O good God for all thy Temporal and Spiritual Blessings Blessed be thou that thou hast been so good and kind to us notwithstanding all our Provocations that we are still alive and that thou hast preserved us to this Hour and hast waited for our Repentance with so much Patience and Long-forbearance And for ever blessed be thy good Name for the inestimable Hope thou hast set before us by the Mediation of thy Son our Saviour whom thou hast sent to make Propitiation for all true Penitents and to bless us and lead us into the way of Happiness in turning every one of us from his Sins who therefore has brought Life and Immortality to light through the Gospel and hath so powerfully called us to Glory and Vertue by exceeding great and precious Promises that by these we might be Partakers of the Divine Nature having eseaped the Corruption that is in the World through Lust O Infinite Goodness to snatch us from Death and lead us in the way of Eternal Life How shall we escape if we neglect that great Salvation Good God since the Blessed Jesus shed his precious Blood to redeem us from all Iniquity that he might deliver us from this present evil World to make us New Creatures holy and pure to live with thee eternally in Heaven O may we become a peculiar People unto thee zealous of all good Works that through our Vileness we make not the Blood of thy Son ineffectual to the saving of our Souls and so loose the Benefits of his Redemption May we ever submit our selves unto thee and live soberly justly and godly in this present World and work out our Salvation with Fear and Trembling till we arrive at last to a happy Death and remit our Spirits into thy Hands Suffer us not O Lord to lust after evil things to fix our Hearts and place our Affections upon the things of this World nor to be restless and impatient for any Enjoyment of it Make us more and more sensible of the Uncertainty and Vanity of all worldly things and of our own Unworthiness of the least Good we enjoy that we may be content to want the Pleasures and Comforts of this World and if it be thy Will endure patiently its Crosses and Troubles so at last we do but obtain Heaven and for ever escape those dreadful and everlasting Torments of Hell which we have righteously and often deserved Have Pity O Lord upon the whole Race of Mankind More particularly take thy Church we humbly beseech thee into thy special Care and Protection There is none that fighteth for us but thou O God O let not thy Truth fail in the World grant that all Men may come to the Knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ that we may all serve thee unanimously under his Banner and having conquered the World the Flesh and the Devil whilst we follow the Captain of our Salvation we may enjoy the blessed Effects of that glorious Victory in mutual Love and universal Charity and so attain to the Felicity of the Kingdom of Heaven Bless and protect our Sovereign whom thou hast set over us Defend him in all Dangers and give him good Successagainst his Enemies and the Enemies of our holy Religion Bless and preserve our gracious Queen and the Royal Family Grant to all that are put in Authority under them that they may truly and indifferently minister Justice to the Punishment of Wickedness and Vice and to the Maintenance of thy true Religion and Vertue Bless all those that minister unto us the Word of Life that they may save themselves and those that hear them Be good and gracious we beseech thee to all our Relations our Friends and Benefactors Pour thy Blessings upon this whole Family and all those among whom we live Put thy Fear and thy Love in our Hearts that we may live comfortably like Brethren and Christians one with another Have mercy O good Lord upon all that are in Trouble Sorrow Need Sickness or any other Adversity and those especially to whom our Prayers are due succour and relieve them comfort them with the Hopes of a better and eternal Life and fit them for that blessed Life Pardon our Enemies give us Grace to love them and do good unto them and them Grace to repent that we may all live better than we have done for the time past that we may all be Partakers of thy Salvation O give us Grace daily to amend what is amiss in us that we may go on unto Perfection and may be so happy as to enjoy the Pleasures of divine Love and Holiness to Eternity Take us all this Day Night O Lord into thy good and mighty Protection * That is to be said in the Morning
deliver'd him up unto Death upon the account of sin he will surely shew no mercy to us if we are not wrought upon to forsake all our evil ways and turn unto the Lord our God and suffer him to Reign over us For that was the very thing Christ came into the World for viz. to restore rebellious Men to the Favour and Love of God in bringing them again to their Duty and Allegiance He tells us himself Mat. 9.13 He came to call sinners to repentance And the Apostle St. Paul teacheth us that this was the end of his Death Tit. 2.14 Who gave himself for our sins that he might redeem us from all iniquity And indeed he fully demonstrated by his Death and Sufferings the absolute necessity of returning to our Duty assuring us thereby That the wages of sin is death that God will by no means spare those that persist in their Rebellion and reject the Offers of Grace made to them in the Gospel and that there is no way to escape if we neglect so great a salvation As he forewarns us in the Parable the Lord will surely order at the Great Day of Accounts All his Enemies which would not that he should reign over them to be brought and slain before him Luke 19.27 But this is not all that was done by our blessed Saviour to establish the Kingdom of Heaven among Men. He not only did reveal the pure Laws of Heaven and manifested to the World the Wrath and Judgment of God against them that will not be ruled by 'em he hath also brought life and immortality to light thrô the Gospel He hath not only revealed but also given full assurance by his own Death and Resurrection that God will reward with everlasting Life and Felicity and an immortal Crown of Glory in Heaven those that will submit to his Government live according to the Gospel of his Son and be his faithful Subjects in this World Thus did the Mediator of the Second Covenant put the Laws of God in our inward parts and write them in our hearts I have thus long insisted upon this Point on purpose to make Christianity or the Messiah's Dispensation the better known For these are wholly and absolutely ignorant of the Nature of this his Heavenly Kingdom who conceit that Christ hath reconciled God to sin or to sinners that continue in their sins as I hope doth appear from what hath been said particularly concerning the Nature of the Christian Faith and as must needs indeed be evident to any one who will but consider seriously the Precepts the Promises and the Threatnings of the Gospel We are told Acts 3.26 That the end for which God sent his Son was to bless us in turning away every one of us from our iniquities It must needs therefore be a great Blessing to be freed from our sins and brought again under the Dominion of the Kingdom of Heaven What pretence then or what excuse can we now frame if we still despise and reject God's Laws and will not submit to his Divine Government How can we refuse to yield our selves unto God and become God's obedient People seeing he requires nothing of us but what is agreeable to the best Reason in the World and the Light of our own Consciences and what tends to our truest Happiness even in this Life such as must necessarily arise from Contentment Peace of Conscience and Serenity of Mind and all the Christian Vertues and will secure our everlasting Happiness in the World to come For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink it doth not consist in indifferent things but righteousness and peace and joy in the holy Ghost as we saw before Rom. 14.17 When we are admitted to the freedom of the Kingdom of Heaven we take a solemn Oath of Allegiance which comprehends these three things I. That we renounce the Devil and all his Works the Pomps and Vanity of this wicked World and all the sinful Lusts of the Flesh II. That we receive and embrace all the Articles of the Christian Faith And III. That we will keep God's Holy Will and Commandments and walk in the same all the Days of our Life And as long as we are true to this Oath we remain good and faithful Subjects we are God's People and he is our God This is the Kingdom of Heaven that is the Christian Religion Now 3ly it is not hard to discern what reason there was to repent the Kingdom of Heaven being at hand and what reason then there is for Repentance now the Kingdom of Heaven is come The Kingdom of God being such as we have now seen it is evident that Repentance is a necessary step or preparative to it How will Men submit and conform themselves to the Divine Laws if they do not forsake their Sins and learn to practice the contrary Vertues They cannot serve God and Mammon Luk. 16.13 For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness what communion hath light with darkness and what concord hath Christ with Belial as says the Apostle 2 Cor. 6.14 15. 'T is certain Men will never be thorowly converted if they do not first repent and begin by Reformation The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom Prov. 9.10 So Repentance is the beginning of Christianity Those that forsake their Sins and repent heartily of them are fit Men to make Christians of but no wonder that the Rulers the Pharisees and Sadducees and the rest of the Hypocrites and Reprobates of that Age believed not in Jesus Christ The secret of the Lord is only with them that fear him the secret of the Lord is with the righteous and to such he will shew his covenant as we read Psal 25.14 Prov 3.32 In a word the good Seed taketh no effect but when it falls in a good and well prepared Ground that is in an honest and good Heart as is apparent from the Parable Luk. 8.15 Is it now necessary to bring any further Proofs to shew how much reason then there is for us Christians to repent Hear what Christ himself the Author of our Faith has expresly declared Luk. 13.3 Except ye repent ye shall all perish And if we are called with an holy and heavenly calling As it is 2 Tim. 1.9 Heb. 3.1 1 Thess 4.7 and in other places of Scripture it must needs be surely to this end that we should stablish our hearts unblameable in holiness 1 Thess 3.13 And perfect holiness in the fear of God having cleansed our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit 2 Cor. 7.1 He that never began to study nor ever was acquainted with Books may with as much reason conceit himself a great Scholar as he that hath not sorsaken his Sins and repented think he may be a Christian Let us therefore repent that we may follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord Heb. 12.14 We cannot barely say as the Baptist Repent ye for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand but the Hour now is that we must bid all Men repent because the Kingdom of God is come and that is inconsistent with a state of Sin and Wickedness The Times of our Ignorance God winked at but now he expects we shall all repent And the reason of it we find Acts 17.31 Because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom he has ordained whereas he has given assurance to all men in that he has raised him from the dead Finally in Luk. 12.48 we read that unto whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required What manner of persons than ought we to be we to whom Christ is preached and the Kingdom of God fully revealed what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness as St. Peter has it in his 2 Epist 3.11 Hence we may take occasion in the 4th place to consider what sort of Persons are the Subjects of the Heavenly Kingdom that we may assuredly know whether we are such or not that if we are we may praise God for it and continue to be so or if we are not we may see what is to be done to become such It is evident that a thorow Conversion from Sin to Holiness is the Business of Christianity The Design of Christ's coming into the World was to make Men truly holy The only Preparation necessary for the Entertainment of the Messiah or the Reception of his Heavenly Doctrine consisted in having this work begun in them by Repentance Repent ye said the Baptist for the kingdom of heaven is at hand A Christian therefore a true Christian I mean and not one in name only is one that has forsaken all his evil ways and is turned with all his heart unto the Lord his God to do his whole Will and keep his Commandments as long as he lives They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts Gal. 5.24 It is one who has denied himself and taken up his cross Matt. 16.24 One that treads apon the steps of his Saviour and runs with patience the race that is set before him looking unto Chrst Jesus who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and is now set at the right hand of God Hebr. 12.1 2. If any man be in Christ he is a new creature says the Apostle St. Paul 2 Cor. 5.17 And Rom. 6.3 c. They that are baptised in Jesus Christ are baptised into his death therefore they are buried with him by baptism into death that like as Christ was raised up from the dead even so they also should walk in newness of life Leaving therefore the principles of the doctrine of Christ they go on unto perfection not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith towards God as the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews has it 6.1 In a word true Christians are a peculiar people purified from all iniquity and zealous of all good works Tit. 2.14 But if you will know more particularly what manner of men true Christians are in their Life and Conversation you must read all the Precepts of the Gospel For we can never take them for true Christians that do not love Jesus Christ and are none of his Friends And I am sure all those are mere Hypocrites who pretend to love him and yet keep not his Commandments He has said it expresly If ye love me keep my commandments John 14.15 And at the 21 ver of the same Chapter He that has my commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me or as it is at the 23 ver If a man love me he will keep my words By this we shall know certainly whether we are his Disciples or not Love is the fulfilling of the law as we read Rom. 13.10 that is it is the sum of it Charity comprehends all the Precepts of Christianity and implies all the Duties of Religion Therefore our Saviour has made it the Criterion or the Sign and Mark to know true Christians by John 13.35 In the 15th Chapter of the same Gospel at the 12th ver He calls it his Commandment This is my commandment that ye love one another as I loved you And at the 14th ver Ye are my friends saith he if ye do whatsoever I command you Than we are not his Friends if we do not whatsoever he commands us then surely we are not Christians But there 's no difficulty in the case we are true Christians we are his Friends if we do whatsoever he commands us Some Men perhaps at the first blush will be apt to think that this Representation of a Christian is defective because though I shew him to be one that renounceth Sin and the Devil and makes it his Business to frame his Life according to the Commandments of God yet I do not mention the particulars of his Belief But they may consider that this were needless to our present purpose and superfluous it being supposed that he who yields himself intirely and without any reserve to our Lord Jesus Christ to do his whole will doth most sincerely believe his holy Gospel and receives and adheres to all the Truths revealed in it It were unreasonable in this occasion to think that a too general Catalogue of the Articles of his Faith since 't is most certain God requires no more and no more is necessary to the Design of the Gospel and the Business of Religion that is to make Men truly holy Men may be ignorant of the meaning of several obscure places of Scripture nay and be mistaken in their Understanding of several places for no body is infallible and yet be right good Christians if they do but answer the Design of Christianity which cannot be mistaken but wilfully So that if a Man can say The Design of Christianity I am sincerely willing to obey my Creator and Redeemer in all things commanded by them I do entertain and harbour no Lust in my Breast I do heartily endeavonr to have a right understanding of the holy Scriptures and chiefly of the Gospel and to know what Doctrines are delivered there in order to the bettering of my Soul by them and the direction of my Life and Actions according to them If a Man can but say this truly of himself he may be sure whatsoever Mistakes he may labour under they cannot be such as will undo his Soul since they do not hinder him to answer the Design of the Gospel and the end of our Saviour's coming into the World that is to return sincerely and heartily to the Obedience of God to submit to his divine Government and frame his Life according to the Laws and Constitutions of his most Heavenly Kingdom It is certain Faith is required to no other end but this whoever reads the Scriptures cannot but see that this is the thing aim'd