Innumerable and almost Irremediable Woes to break in upon us XII Let us Humbly Confess That Mâ—gistrates Ministers and others that have served the Publick have been but great Sufferers by their Services and met with Unrighteous Discouragements XIII Let us Humbly Confess That the Pyracies which 't is to be feared some who belong to these have perpetrated in other parts of the World are Scandals that call for much Lamentation XIV Let us Humbly Confess That we have in former years used Unjustifiable Hardships upon some that have Conscientiously Dissented from our perswasions in Religion XV. Let us Humbly Confess That we have treated one another very Ill in the Various Temptations Cententions and Revâ—lutiâ—ns which have been upon us XVI Let us Humbly Confess That the Sins of the most Filthy Uncleanness have horribly Defiled the Land XVII Let us Humbly Confess That the Joy of Harvest hath been filled with Folly and Lewdness and Forgotten the Glad Service of God whom we should have Served in the Abunâ—lance of all things XVIII Let us Humbly Confess That much Fraud hath been used in the Dealings of many and the Spirit of Oppression hath made a Cry XIX Let us Humbly Confess That Falsehood and Slander hath been commonly carrying of Darts through the Land and the Wounded have been many XX. And Let us Humbly Confess That the Successive and Amazing Judgments of God upon us for our thus Trespassing have not Reclamed us but we have prodigiously Gone on still in our Trespasses In our Humiliations Let these things be Reflected on and with our most Humble Reflections Let us do like them in 1 Sam. 7.6 Gather together and Draw water and pour it out in a Showre of Tears before the Lord and Fast on that Day and say we have Sinned against the Lord. But that this our Confession of our Provocations may be Penitent we must Secondly Incorporate thereinto a Confession of what we have Deserved by these Provoking Evils Particularly We have seen many Troubles but on our Day of Humiliation concerning all our Troubles Let us Humbly make that Confession in Ezra 9.13 Thou our God best punished us less than our Iniquities Deserve Have we lost many Thousands of Pounds by the Disasters of the Sea Let us Humbly Confess our Sins have Deserved that instead of making one Good Voyage we should have been stript of all the Little that is left unto us Hath one bad harvest after another diminished our Ordinary Food Let us Humbly Confess our Sins have Deserved that the Earth which hath been thereby Defiled should have yielded us nâ—thing at all Have Bloody Popish and Pagan Enemies made very dreadful Impressions upon us and Captived and Butchered multitudes of our Beloved Neighbours Let us Humbly Confess our Sins have Deserved that we should be all of us altogether given up unto the will of our Enemies to Serve our Enemies in the want of all things and have our Lives continually hanging in Doubt under their turious Tyrannies Have we been Broken sore in the place of Dragons and Covered with the Shadow of Death Say Humbly before the Lord with them in Lam. 3.39 Why should a man Complain for the punishment of his Sin And yet we have had Comforts to mitigate and moderate our Troubles In the midst of wrath God ha's Remembred Mercy Now concerning all our Comforts on our Day of Humiliation Let us Humbly make that Confession in Lam. 3.22 It is of the Lords mercies that we are not Consumed Have we not the Tidings of Salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ Preac'd unto us to sweeten the Bread of Adversity and the Water of Afflâ—ction which the Lord hath given us Let us Humbly Confess 'T is of the Lords Mercies that this Countrey ha's the Bread of Life and the Waters of Life yet continued unto it and that it is not become a Region of the Valley of the Shadow of Death Are our Poor though greatly Increased and Afflicted yet more Comfortably provided for than in many other parts of the World Let us Humbly Confess 'T is of the Lords Mercies that we are not all Seattered and famiâ—hed and periâ—hed in our Poverty Do we see less of the Distress of Nations and Perplexity with the Sea and the waves thereof Roaring than they do in a great part of Europe 8. Let us Humbly Confess 'T is of the Lords Mercies that all the Things which the fainting Hearts of men any where do fear coming on the Earth are not come upon our selves Why do not our Adversaries use the Advantages which they have to Confound us but are themselves in such Confusion that we Endure not an Hundredth part of the Disturbance from them which they might give unto us Humbly say before the Lord with him in Gen. 32.10 We are not worthy of the least of all these Mercies This This would be the Language of a True Humiliatiâ—n But a Second Admoniâ—ion must be added unto This. What Signities Confession without Reformation T is all but Hypocrisy all but Impiety We are told in Prov. 28.13 T is he that Confesseth Forsaleth who shall have Mercy The Ancients would well call the Confession of Sin The Vemit of the Soul But now if we return and proceed unto the Commission of the Sins which we have by our Confession as it were Vomited up what are we but the Dogs that Return unto their Vomit When Sins are Sincerely Confessed the Repenting Sinners will say as in Hos 14.8 What have we any more to do with them Come then We have now and then that which we call A Day of Humiliation But Sirs A Day of Reformation Oh! when shall we see such a Day When shall it once be Behold an Essential Piece of work to be attended when A Day of Humiliation arrives unto us Let every one of us Earnestly Enquire with our selves What is there that I am now to Reform in my own Heart and Life and in the Family which I belong unto and importunately implore the Help of the Spirit of Grace to pursue such a Reformation But then lâ—et all that Sustain any Publick Office whether Civil or Sacred further carry on the Enquiâ—y What shall we do to Reform any spreading Evils in the Publick Lei the Pastors of the Churches in their severat Charges Labour Watchfully to prevent all growth of Sin in their Vicinities and the Churches joyn with their Pastors in Sharpening their Discipline against Offences that may arise and in preserving the Liberty and Purity which they have heretofore been clothed withal And Let Justices Grand Jury men Constables Tythingmen have their mutual Consultations to procure the Executions of Good Laws and Remember the Oath of God upon them Were such an Humiliation once obtained Then would our God say I see they have Humbled themselves I will not utterly Destroy them The Land of Canaan is as much as to say in English The Land of the Humbled Oh! if we were universally thus Humbled our Land would soon
New-England Humble thy self Lest a fiercer Anger of the Lord yet come upon thee Oh! Let not that be written on our Doors in Jer 44.10 They are not Humbled unto this Day Sirs We are every Day Coming down most wonderfully But let us then Fall down most Humbly in the Consideration thereof and let our Lamentation be That in Lam. 3.19 20. Remembring my Affliction and my Misery my Soul has them still in Remembrance and is Humbled in me IV. What will our Humiliation Signify if it carry us not unto our Lord Iesus Christ Wherefore when we Humble our selves Let us Humbly Rely on our Lord Iesus Christ alone for our Acceptance with God So are we Diâ—ected in Jam. 4.10 Humble your selves in the sight of the Lord That is to say With an Eye to the Lord Jesus Christ in all you do That the Humiliations of men are of no Account with God while the Lord Iesus Christ is not therein referred unto the poor Jewish Nation have given to us a doleful Experiment related in a Book Translated by one Paul Isaiah a Jew by that among other motives converted unto the Faith of our Blessed Iesus After many former Humiliations that the End of their Captivity might be Revealed unto them they did in the year 1502. make a Publick Repentance thro' all their Habitations all over the face of the whole World and both old and young men women and children spent almost a year together in such marvellous Devotions as were never heard of in the world before But all signified nothing why Because they do as the Prophet Isaiah foretold that they would they still Reject our Lord Jesus Christ through whom alone it is that any of our Humiliations have Acceptance with the God of Heaven The Great God has promised That He will be favourable unto that Nation in Lev. 26 41. When their Uncircumcised Hearts be Humbled and they then Accept the punishment of their Iniquity The Sacrifice upon whom the punishment of our Iniquity does fall Isa 53.6 and 2 Cor. 5.21 is that of the Messiah and the Messiah therefore is by that Name intended When the Jewes come to leave off their Thoughts and Hopes of any other Sacrifice or their Dreams of making Satisfaction by bearing the punishment of their own Iniquity but Accept the Messiah as the only Help of their Souls against all the Guilt of their Sins THEN God will Remember His Covenant O That they would at Last and at Least come to such Thoughts as were in the famous Rabbi Samuel Marochianus who upon that Prophecy of Amos where the Lord threatens to punish Israel for Selling the Righteous for Silver has these Memorable words The Prophet Amos Expresly declares the Wickedness for which we are in our Captivity It manifestly appears to me that we are justly punished for that Sin of Selling the Righteous A thousand years and more are spent in all which Time our condition among the Gentiles is not minded nor have we any Hopes of mending it O My God I am afraid I am afraid Lest the IESVS whom the Christians Worship should be the Righteous One whom we have Sold for Silver In the mean time Let us that own our selves Christians now prove our selves to be so by our Humbling our selves before God but Looking for the Success of it only from and thro' our Lord Iesus Christ our only Mediator Let the Humiliation of our Lord Jesus Christ be our Meditation and our Consolation Of Him 't is said in Psal 2.8 He Humbled Himself And let it provoke our Humiliation when we meditate on what our Lord Jesus Christ suffered when God Laid no Him the Iniquity of us all But when we have Humbled our selves never so much Let us count that we have cause to be Humbled over again for the defects of our own Humiliation As he of old said Lava meas Lachrymas Domine Lord My very Tears want washing So let us be sensible There is enough in our best Humiliations to call for more Humiliations Fly then to the Lord Jesus Christ whose Prayers were alwayes perfect and whose Fasts were ever Faultless and whose Blood being Sprinkled upon our Humiliations is that which alone can render such Defective Things Acceptable unto the Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty Put all into the Hands of the Great Angel of the Covenant His Incense persuming of them they will Ascend before God with glorious Effects following thereupon Among some of the Americans 't is reported they have a strange Usage when they are Humbling themselves before their Gods to bring their Sheep into their Assemblies that by the Bleats and Cries of their Sheep they may move the compassion of their Gods We are better taught than so when we are Humbling our selves we are to bring before our God that Lamb of God which takes away the Sins of the world Syrs There was a Sacrifice for the Congregation which was on a Day of Humiliation of old Commemorated Our Lord Iesus Christ is to be on our Day of Humiliation Look'd unto as the Sacrifice for our whole Congregation Our Faith is to Argue it That God has had more Honour from the Sacrifice of our Lord Iesus Christ than if all our whole Congregation were destroy'd for ever Our Faith is to Resolve it That whatever Salvation is vouchsafed unto all our whole Congregation the Sacrifice of our Lord Iesus Christ shall have the Honour and the Merit of it all ascribed thereunto Now who can tell how far one Humble Soul may prevail that shall put in Suit the Sacrifice for the Congregation The Faith of one Moses of one Samuel yea of one Amos one poor obscure honest Husbandman Oh! how far may it go to obtain this Answer from the Great God They have Humbled themselves I will not destroy them but grant them some Deliverance ¶ AND I suppose there happens to be at this very Time in this Assembly an Example full of Encouragement unto those Humiliations which have been thus called for In our Solemn Humiliations before the Lord we have with a very particular Fervency besought His Mercy for our poor Captives that were become the Prey of the Terrible Yea we have done it with some Assurance that the Glorious Hearer of Prayer would Vouchsafe of His Mercy to some of those Miserables Now I think I see among you at this Hour Three Persons namely Two Women and one Youth who have just now Received a Deliverance from a Captivity in the Hands of houid Indians with some very Singular Circumstances And therefore Let it not seem an Unsuitable or Unseasonable Digression it I Conclude this Discourse with making this unexpected occurrence to be Subservient unto the main Intention thereof A Narrative of a Notable Deliverance from Captivity ON the fifteenth Day of the Last March Hannah Dustan of Haverhil having Lain in about a Week attended with her Nurse Mary Neff a Widow a Body or Teâ—â—iâ—le Indians drew near unto the House where she lay with
I see now â—â—â—nd before the Lord in this Assemâ—â—â—â—e Subjects of such a Wonderful De 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ce from your Captivity a Deliverâ—â—â—â— â—hich hath been Signalized with such Unusual Circumstances Words that are spoken in an Ordinance of the Lord Jesus Christ carry with them a peculiar Efficacy and Authority The Lord Jesus Christ hath by a Surprising Providence of His brought you this Day to wait upon Him in that Great Ordinance which is His Power for the Salvation of our Souls Hear a Servant of the Lord JESUS CHRIST in His Name now Publickly Solemnly calling upon you to make a Right use of the Deliverance wherewith He ha's Highly favoured you The Use which you are to make of it is To Humble your selves before the Lord Exceedingly As you have had the Extraordinary Judgments of God upon you to Humble you so Except His Extraordinary Mercies do likewise Humble you you do but Exceedingly Abuse them The Rich Goodness of God unto you is to Lead you unto Repentance When you were Carried into Captivity We did not say That you were greater Sinners than the rest that yet Escape it You are now Resened from Captivity and must not think That they are greater Sinners who are Left behind in the most barbarous Hands imaginable No you that have been under the Mighty Hand of God are to Humble your selves under that Hand But it you do indeed so I know what you will do You will seriously consider What you shall render to the Lord for all His Benefits And you will sincerely Render your very Selves unto the Lord You are not now the Slaves of Indians as you were a few Dayes ago but if you continue Unhumbled in your Sins you will be the Slaves of Devils and Let me tell you A Slavery to Devils to be in Their Hands is worse than to be in the Hands of Indians I beseech you then by the Mercies of God that you present your selves unto the Lord Jesus Christ Become the sincere Servants of that Lord who by His Blood has brought you out of the Dungeon wherein you were lately Languiâ—â—ing Oh! Deny not the Lord who has thus Bought you out of your Captivity I tell you truly The Lord Expects great Returns of Humiliation of Thankfulness and of Obedience from you and I therefore Leave with you one Sentence of Scripture to be often thought upon 'T is That in Ezra 9.13 14. After all that is come upon us for our Evil Deeds seeing thou our God hast given us such Deliverance as this should we again break thy Commandments wouldest thou not be angry with us till thou hadst Consumed us Now Let all Consider what hath been said and the Lord give us Understanding â—n all things APPENDIX A NARRATIVE of Hannah Swarton Containing Wonderful Passages relating to her Captivity and her Deliverance I Was taken by the Indians when Casco Fort was taken May 1690. My Husband being slain and Four Children taken with me The Eldest of my Sons they killed about two Months after I was taken and the rest Scattered from me I was now left a Widow and as Bereaved of my Children though I had them alive yet it was very seldome that I could see them and I had not Liberty to Discourse with them without Danger either of my own Life or theirs for our Condoling each others Condition and shewing Natural Affection was so displeasing to our Indian Rulers unto whose Share we fell that they would threaten to kill us if we cryed each to other or discoursed much together So that my Condition was like what the Lord threatned the Jews in Ezek. 24.22 23. We durst not Mourn or Weep in the sight of our Enemies lest we lost our own Lives For the first Times while the Enemy feasted on our English Provisions I might have had some with them but then I was so filled with Sorrow and Tears that I had little Stomach to Eat and when my Stomach was come our English Feed was spent and the Indians wanted themselves and we more So that then I was pined with want We had no Corn or Bread but sometimes Groundnuts Acâ—rns Purslâ—in Hogweel Weeds Roots and sometimes Dogs Flesh but not sufficient to saâ—iâ—â—y Hunger with these having but little at a Time We had no success at Hunâ—ing save that one Bear was killed which I had part of and a very small part of a Tittle I had another time and once an Indian gave me a piece of a Mooses Liver which was a sweet Morsel to me and Fish if we could catch it Thus I continued with them hurried up and down the Wilderness from May 20. till the middle of February Carrying continually a Great Burden in our Travels and I must go their pace or else be killed presently and yet was pinched with Cold for want of Cloathing being put by them into an Indian Dress with a sleight Blanket no Stockings and but one pair of Indian-Shoes and of their Leather Stockings for the Winter My Feet were pricked with sharp Stones and prickly Bushes sometimes and other times Pinched with Snow Cold and Ice that I travelled upon ready to be frozen and faint for want of Food so that many times I thought I could go no further but must ly down and if they would kill me let them kill me Yet then the Lord did so Renew my Strength that I went on still further as my Master would have me and held out with them Though many English were taken and I was brought to some of them at times while we were about Casco Bay and Kennebeck River yet at Norridgawock we were Separated and no English were in our Company but one John York and my self who were both almost Starved foâ— want and yet told that if we could not hold up to travel with them they would kill us And accordingly John York growing Weak by his wants they killed him and threatened me with the like One time my Indian Mistress and I were left alone while the rest went to look for Eeles and they left us no Food from Sabbath day Morning till the next Sature-day save that we had a Bladder of Moose I think which was well filled with Maggots and we boiled it and drank the Broth but the Bladder was so tough we could not eat it On the Saturday I was sent by my Mistress to that part of the Island most likely to see some Canoo and there to make Fire and Smoke to invite some Indians if I could spy any to come to Relieve us and I espied a Canoo and by Signs invited them to come to the Shore It proved to be some Squaw's who understanding our wants one of them gave me a Roasted Eel which I eat and it seemed unto me the most Savoury Food I ever tasted before Sometimes we lived on Wortle burrâ—es sâ—metimes on a kind of Wild Cherry which grew on Bushes which I was sent to gather once in so bitter a Cold season that I was not
Express it Then came to mind the History of the Transfiguring of Christ and Peters saying Math. 17.4 Lord It is Good for us to be here I thought it was Good for me to be here and I was so full of Comfort and Joy I even Wished I could be so alwayes and never sleep or else Dy in that Rapture of Joy and never Live to Sin any more against the Lord. Now I thought God was my God and my Sins were pardoned in Christ and now I thought I could Suffer for Christ yea Dye for Christ or do any thing for Him My Sins had been a Burden to me I desired to see all my Sins and to Repent of them all with all my Heart and of that Sin which had been especially a Burden to me namely That I Left the Publick Worship and Ordinances of God to go to Live in a Remote Place without the Publick Ministry depriving our selves our Children of so great a Benefit for our Souls and all this for Worldly advantages I found an Heart to Repent of them all and to lay hold of the Blood of Christ to cleanse me from them all I found much Comfort while I was among the French by the Opportunities I had sometimes to Read the Scriptures and other Good Books and Pray to the Lord in Secret and the Conference that some of us Captives had together about things of God and Prayer together sometimes especially with one that was in the same House with me Margaret Stilson Then was the Word of God precious to us and they that feared the LORD spake one to another of it as we had Opportunity And Coloned Tyng and Mr. Alden as they were permitted did speak to us to Confâ—â—m and Strengthen us in the wayes of the Lord. At length the French debatr'd our coming together for Religious Conference or other Duties And Word was sent us by Mr. Alden That this was one kind of Persecution that we must suffer for Christ These are some of the Scriptures which have been my Support and Comfort in the Affliction of my Captivity among the Papists That in Ezek. 16.6 8. I applyed unto my self and I desired to Enter into Covenant with God and to be His And I Prayed to the Lord and Hoped the Lord would Return me to my Country again That I might Enter into Covenant with Him among His People and Enjoy Communion with Him in His Churches and Publick Ordinances Which Prayers the Lord hath now heard and graciously Answered Praised be His Name The Lord Enable me to Live suitably unto His Mercy and to those Publick and Precious Priviledges which I now Enjoy So That in Ezek 11.16 17. was a Great Comfort unto me in my Captivity Although I have cast them far off among the Heathen yet will I be a little Sanctuary to them I will gather you from the People where you have been Scattered I found that God was a Little Sanctuary to me there and hoped that the Lord would bring me to the Country from whence I had been Scattered And the Lord hath heard the Prayer of the Destitute and not despised my Prayer but granted me the Desire of my Soul in bringing me to His House and my Relations again I often thought on the History of the man Born Blind of whom Christ when His Disciples asked Whether this man had Sinned or his Parents answered Neither this man nor his Parents but this was that the works of God might be made manifest in him So tho' I had deserved all this yet I knew not but one Reason of Gods bringing all these Afflictions and Miseries upon me and then Enabling me to bear them was That the Works of God might be made manifest And in my Great Distress I was Revived by that in Psal 118.17 18. I shall not Dy but Live and Declare the works of the Lord The Lord hath chasten'd 〈◊〉 sore but He hath not given me over to Death I had very often a secret perswasion That I should Live to Declare the Works of the Lord. And 2 Chron. 6.36 37 38 39. was a precious Scripture to me in the Day of Evil. We have Read over and Pray'd over this Scripture together and Talk'd together of this Scripture Margaret and I How the Lord hath Promised Though they were Scattered for their Sins yet there should be a Return if they did Bethink themselves and Turn and Pray So we did Bethink our selves in the Land where we were Garried Captive did Turn did Pray and Endeavour to Return to God with all our Hearts And as they were to Pray towards the Temple I took it that I should Pray towards Christ and accordingly did so and hoped the Lord would Hear and He hath Heard from Heaven His Dwelling Place my Prayer and Supplication and mentained my Cause and not Rejected me but Returned me And Oh! how affectionate was my Reading of the Eighty Fourth Psalm in this Condition The means of my Deliverance were by reason of Letters that had passâ—d between the Governments of New-England and of Canada Mr. Cary was sent with a Vessel to fetch Captives from Quebeck and when he came I among others with my youngest Son had our Liberty to come away And by Gods Blessing upon us we Arrived in Safety at Boston in November 1695. our Desired Haven And I desire to Praise the Lord for His Goodness and for His Wonderful Works to me Yet still I have left behind Two Children a Daughter of Twenty Years old at Mont Royal whom I had not seen in Two years before I came away and a Son of Nineteen years old whom I never saw since we parted the next morning after we were taken I earnestly Request the Prayers of my Christian Friends that the Lord will deliver them What shall I render to the Lord for all His Benefits FINIS
be a Canaan for the Rest the Peace the Plenty which would be therein vouchsafed unto us II. The Exercises of a Sacred Fast have a particular and peculiar Character of Humiliation in them and we are to Humble our selves with Fasting before the Lord. Thus the Psalmist of old manifested his Humiliation in Psal 35.13 I Humbled my Soul with Fasting There is that Call Now and Often perhaps not often enough heard thro' the Province in Joel 1.14 Sanctify a Fast Call a Solemn Assembly Gather the Elders and all the Inhabitants of the Land into the House of your God and Cry unto the Lord. And I perswade my self that we generally concur in the General Principle hitherto Espoused by the Church of God in every Generation That a Religions Fast is a Needful Duty pro Temporibus et Causis as Tertullian long since well stated it on Just and Great Occasions for it That Merry Sect who Explode Fasting as a thing not Agreeable to our Gospel Times appear not among us We know that Fasting hath in all Agâ—s been esteem'd a Duty incumbent on the People of God We find such Fasting used in Elder Times Judg. 20.26 and 1 Sam. 7.6 Both more publickly 2 Chron. 20.30 and Ezr. 8 21. And more privately 2 Sam. 12.16 Neb. 1.4 What tho' these things were in the Dayes of the Old-Testament I hope the Old Testament is not become Apocâ—ypha with any of us But in the New-Testament also we have a Praediction of our Fasting Math. 9.15 Yea and a Praescription for it Mâ—th 6.16 For dâ—ing it more pubâ—ickly we have 〈◊〉 Wâ—â—rant Act. 14.23 and more privately too 1 Cor. 7.5 Yea we are told that there are certain Blessings which cannot now be obtained but in such a way Mar. 9.29 And I am sure of one thing more when the Apostles and the Believers in the Primitive Times were most Filled with the Holy Spirit of Christ then it was that they were most in Fasting before the Lord Now if our Fast be such a Fast as the Lord hath chosen we shall therein Humble our selves most acceptably most profitably most efficaciously And because the Right Performance of this Duty is a thing of great Consequence in Christianity 't is what is frequently required and much Weal or Wo will follow upon the management of it I will set before you the Rules of that Sacred Fast wherein we are to Humble our Souls Having first Praepared our selves for our Fast as one would for an Extraordinary Sabbath we have these things to do First There is the Internal Humiliation of our Fast The Duties of Praying Repenting and Believing are the Soul of that Fast wherein we are to Humble our Souls and we are to Labour in those Duties The Duties of a Fast are those in 2 Chron. 7.14 My People shall then Humble themselves and Pray and Seek my Face and Turn from their wicked wayes For men to think that they Serve God by a Fast wherein they do nothing but Fast from Corporal Sustenance and they draw not near to God in Devotions all the Day long 't is a plece of Ignorance yea more than one Commandment of God is broken by this piece of Ignorance When we Celebrate a Fast we are in more than ordinary Prayers to Acknowledge our own Sinfulness and the Greatness and Justice of God in Chastising our Sinfulness and we are to Supplicate those Favours of Heaven which our Sins our Wants and our Fears make Necessary for us The Thing which we have to do on a Fast is what the Praying Daniel did in Dan. 9.3 I set my Face unto the Lord God to seek by Prayer and Supplications with Fasting And haing thus Quoted the Ninth Chapter of Daniel I may Remark That there are Three Nâ—nths which admirably well describe the Task of a Fast unto us the Ninth Chapter of Ezra the Ninth Chapter of Nehemiah and the Ninth Chapter of Daniel When the Fast comes Remember Christians to consult those Three Chapters with Lively Meditations thereupon A Day of Fast is to be a Day of Prayer As in Act. 13.3 so elsewhere Fasting and Praying are what God has joyned and here Man may not separate them Would you hear what you have to Do when a Fast is to be kept The words of an Order for a Fast once ran so in Jon. 3.8 Cry mightily unto God Prayer 't is That whereof the Jewes in one of their Ancient Adagies tell us Nulla est pulchrior virtus hac ipsa There is no vertue like it It is beyond all Oblations But Repenting and Believing as well as Praying must signalize our Fast Reconciliation with God is the End of a Fast without Repenting and Believing this Reconciliation is not applied unto us A Fast is but a Form an Hungry and Empty Form if we do not therein heartily Repent of our Miscarriages Thus we are advised in Isa 58.6 7 8. Is not this the Fast that I have chosen To Loose the Bonds of Wickedness On a Fast Let us be those Ephraimites who shail bemoan themselves Thou hast Chastised me O Lord and I was Chastised Turn thou me and I shall be Turned On a Fast Let us take those Directions in the midst of our Lamentations Let us Search and Try our ways and Turn again unto the Lord. A Fasting Day must be a Soul grieving Day and a Sin killing Day or 't is nothing Our Fast are to Slay our Lusts those are the Beasts which are then to be slaughtered Indeed when ever a Fast recurrs we should go the whole Work of Conversion over again Our Fast will notably be Ciâ—us virtutis if we do so Again The Satisfaction and Intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ must on a Fast â—e Repaired unto and we must Beâ—â—eve in it for our Atonement It was the â—ite appointed for a Fast in Lev. 16.27 â—0 The Blood of the Sin Offering must be â—rought in to make Atonement On that Day all the Priest make Atonement for you to â—eanse you that you may be clean from all â—ur Sins before the Lord. Our Lord Jesus â—hrist is our Priest What He hath done â—r our Atonement must be this Day â—ith a strong Faith Laid hold upon A Fast is a Day of Expiation but we know it is only the Lord Jesus Christ that hath by His Unknown Sufferings as the Greek Church at this Day expressâ—s it made Expiation for our Sins Hence on a Fast we must Renew the Dependance of our Souls on the Obedience which our Lord Jesus Christ our Surety hath yielded unto God for us Our Sin has procured the Death of our Lord Jesus Christ In a Fast our Faith is to Feed upon it A Fasting Day is with Faith a Feeding Day In our Fasts we are to Imitate the Action of the Molossians who seeking the Kings Good will unto them took the Son of the King into their Arms and presenting themselves thus before him said Syr For the sake of this your Son we hope you
'l be favourable to us Thus Let us present our selves before the Eternal King of Heaven on our Fast with His Only Begotten His Dearly Beloved Son in the Arms of our Faith and plead Oh! for the Sake of this thy Son do Good unto us But then Secondly There is the External Humiliation of our Fast when we Humble our selves in a Fast we are to Abstain from all our Secular Pleasures and Affayrs that we may the better go thorough our Duties Like Silly Children we know not when to Feed and when to Forbear Feeding But our Good God in His Word has taught us We are Taught that we must sometimes have a Day for Fasting which must be a Day of Restraint upon us and this Restraint must Extend unto the Dimensions of a Sabbath Of a Fast it is prescribed in Lev. 23.32 It shall be unto you a Sabbath of Rest and ye shall Afflict your Souls from Evening unto Evening shall ye Celebrate your Sabbath The Design of the Abstinence thus to be used on a Fast is not only that we may be more free for the several Spiritual Employments which are then incumbent on us our Lord like a wife Falconer will by keeping of us a little Sharp fit us for the Highest Flights in our Prayers but also to Show and Speak the Humiliation of our Souls in those Employments T is a Ceremony of Gods Appointment a Symbolical Ceremony which God Himself hath appointed and a part of Worship whereby we are to Signify That we 〈◊〉 our selves utterly unworthy of all those Blessings which we now Deny unto our selves and therefore of all other Blessings whatsoeever And the First Sin of man which Lay in Eating is to be considered as very particularly herein referred unto Now First A Fast is to be kept with an Abstinence from the Pleasures of this Life Our usual Diet must on a Fast be Abstained from It was therefore said in Esth 4.16 Fast and neither Eat nor Drink The very Term of a Fast implies thus much and it hath been of old said They that will not so Fast with the Children of God must Eat and Drink of the Furious Wrath of God with the Wicked There are indeed Cases of Necessity wherein our merciful God call for Mercy rather than Sacrifice and in those Cases doubtless the Abstinence may be somewhat Abated and Relaxed Some cannot Encounter a severe and a total Abstinence it would utterly Disable them for the Service of the Day the Severity may then be mitigated Yet our Abstinence must be such as to produce our Affliction Of a Fast it is said in Isa 58.5 It is a Day for a man to Afflict his Soul and it is said in Lev. 23.29 Whatsoever Soul it be that shall not be Afflicted in that same Day he shall be cut off from among his people We may not Eat or Drink so much nor may we Eat or Drink so well on such a Day as at another Time In the Fast of a Daniel we have this Abstinence observed ch 10.3 late no pleasant Bread neither came Flesh nor Wine into my mouth neither did I anoint my self at all And in Tertullians Time they had their Xerophagiae a Dry sort of Repast for such as found that a Rigid Fast was too hard for them But by consequence all other Delights of the Senses are then also to be avoided If you read Joel 2.16 and 〈◊〉 Cor. 7.5 You 'l find a particular prohibition of this Importance Hence likewise our Sleep is then to be Retrenched If we are inclinable to Sleep so long on a Fast as we do on another Day we are to Awakeâ— our selves with such a Call from God as that What meanest thou O Sleeper Arise and Caâ—l upon thy God! And it is not improper here to be noted That our Alms are to be one Concomitant of our Fasts It was said in Isa 58 7. Is 〈◊〉 this the Fast that I have Chosen Is it 〈◊〉 to deal thy Bread to the Hungry When we come to seek Mercy of God we should in Thankfulness for our Hope to find what we seek show Mercy to men In our Fasting we Deny to our selves our usual Nourishments and we should then Bestow on others at least as much as we Deny to our serves in Token of our Sense That we are more Undeserving of the Divine Bounty than any that we know in our Neighbourhood Our Alms are to go up with our Prayers as a Memorial we Remember who 's did so before God But there is yet one thing more to be added Fine Cloathes must in a Fast be Abstained from If there were no Scripture for this why might not meer Nature teach it unto us as well as unto the Ninivites But we have Scripture for it in Exod 33.4 The people mourned and no man did put on him his Ornaments I have seeâ— a Fault in this place and My Neighbours 'T is utterly a Fault among you That on a Fast many people will come to the Worship of God in as Gay Cloaths as if they were going to a Feast Methinks I hear the Holy Angels of God thus uttering their Indignation against such Offenders What will those vain people never have any sign of an Abased and an Afflicted Soul upâ—n them Truly to be arrayed in Gorgeous Apparrel on a Fast is very offensive unto God Rags are fitter than Robes for the Children of men therein to appear as Malefactors before God the Judge of all They that come to the Assembly in a splendid and flanting Attire on such a Day do but Affront the God whom they profess to Humble themselves before Would you Speed in a Fast Then be able to say if not with him in Psal 35.13 My Cloathing was Sackcloth when I Humbled my Soul with Fasting yet My Cloathing is Sober Modest Proper and very Humble And Secondly A Fast is to be kept with an Abstinence from the Affayrs of this Life The Works of our particular Vocations are to be laid aside when a Fast is Indicted and All Servile Labour on the said Day is Inhibited A Fast is to be kept with the strictness of a Sabbath It is Enjoined in Lev. 23.28 30 32. Ye shall do no work in that same Day for it is a Day of Atonement Whatsoever Soul it be that doth any work in that same Day the same Soul will I destroy from among his people It shall be unto you a Sabbath of Rest from Evening to Evening shall ye Celebrate it When the Services of the Congregation are over we are not presently at Liberty to do what we will Those persons do but help to Debauch the Land who take such a Liberty The Edicts of Heaven run so in Joel 2 14. Sanctify a Fast The whole Day of the Fast is to be Sanctified or set apart for Communion with God When we keep a Day we must keep it unto the Lord. The Expectation of our God is intimated unto us in Isa 58.13 Turn away thy Foot from