an heart to know him They that are ignorant of God must needs be ignorant also how to attend upon him If their knowledge be only notional and they know him not as they ought to know him they will not attend upon him as they ought to attend upon him Lay hold therefore upon that good Word of Promise Jer. 24. 7. And I will give them an heart to know me that I am the Lord and they shall be my People and I will be their God for they shall return to me with their whole heart And Heb. 8. 11. They shall all know me from the least to the greatest This knowledge of God will have a mighty influence upon your Hearts to bring your very Thoughts into captivity and obedience 2 Cor. 10. 5. We read 1 Sam. 2. 3. That the Lord is a God of knowledge and by him actions are weighed and they who rightly know this will take care to serve him in sincerity True knowledge of God will bring a great awe of him upon your Spirits His Majesty Glory Holiness will strike you into great humility and reverence How will you be emptied of your selves and your Souls and Thoughts swallowed up in God when he does cause his Excellency to pass before you The appearance of the Lord obscures and darkens all things else that they are counted not worth minding Therefore the Prophet says Isa 24. 23. Then the Moon shall be confounded and the Sun ashamed when the Lord of Hosts shall reign in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and before his Ancients gloriously The Eye of this God whom you attend upon is jealous and yet withal it is all seeing Oh take heed of being deceived as if God would be mocked by Man and Man not be the worse nor smart for it Gal. 6. 7. Be not deceived God is not mocked for whatsoever a Man soweth that shall he also reap If thy Duties are only like a sowing of meer Chaff how canst thou expect to reap any good by them The good Angels themselves do reverence the Lord whom you are worshipping the Apostate ones tremble before him the better you know him the more godly your fear will be and fear will unite your Hearts and Thoughts both to God and to the Work and Duty he requires 4. Be very careful to cherish the Grace of Hope in your Hearts and look upon holy Duties as highly valuable Priviledges the greater your expectation is of the truest benefit and advantage the more intent and fixed will your Thoughts be The Apostle prays to the God of hope for the believing Romans that they might abound in hope by the power of the Holy Ghost Rom. 15. 13. Hope has an earnest expectation and the better the things are which are hoped for still the more earnest the expectation is this the Apostle calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an emphatical word and signifies to look for a thing with an Head lifted up and with great intention both of Eyes and Mind Such an Hope what a remedy would it be against Distraction When Hope is very low the Mind runs very much upon matter of discouragement and is deadned by it And the best things of all being almost despaired of the Heart is the apter to wander after things that cannot profit but Hope is compared to an Anchor Heb. 6. 19. Which hope we have as an Anchor of the Soul both sure and stedfast it keeps the Soul steddy and fixed upon what is hoped for till it be enjoyed Duties are not only to be engaged in as what are due to God but we are to be perswaded that the giving what is due to God is the way to receive still more and more from him In these Duties our Hopes should be high in him that is most high we are not able to conceive how much he can do for us We are to hope in him as a most liberal and all-sufficient Giver we are to expect the yearning of his Bowels in our Distresses and Afflictions and especially when we are weary and heavy laden with the burthen of our Iniquities We are to expect the unlocking of the unsearchable Riches of Christ which are enough to enrich the whole beggar'd progeny of Adam and all that come to him shall certainly experience the Riches and fulness of that Grace that dwells in him The Ploughman plows in hope and hope fixes his Thoughts upon the precious Fruits of the Earth which in Harvest he expects to reap Oh study the Promises of God which are exceeding broad they are wider than the Earth and Sea and they reach as high as the highest Heaven Hope for the promised Blessings which are of all sorts Temporal Spiritual Eternal and the more strong and lively hope is it will the more fix your Mind revive your Spirits and quicken your Desires 5. Another Remedy against Distraction is a fervent Love As love is the first and great Command so 't is a most commanding affection Amor meus pondus meum Love is the weight which sets all the Wheels a going and inclines them that way which it self is inclined The Soul of Man has been by some affirmed to be ubi amat non ubi animat where it loves and on the object beloved rather than in the Body which is the Tabernacle where it dwells and the reason is because Love does so command the Mind and Thoughts after it If your love be set upon God Love will set your Thoughts upon him The Thoughts of the Covetous how are they intent upon their beloved gain and the Pleasures which the voluptuous doat on are hardly ever out of their Mind If love to God constrain you to attend upon God it will bring your Thoughts along with it and very much restrain them from wandring The Love of God can never be produced by corrupt Nature nor by the meer force of reason 't is a special Grace of the Lord's Spirit and to him you must make application for it Christ died that he might bring you to God and Love is the going of the Soul to him In the Name of Christ put up your earnest Petitions that this Grace of Love may be wrought in you in truth and being wrought that it may continually be increased The Lord says he will write his Laws in your Hearts Oh pray that this great Command to love him may be written in deep and lasting Characters and if the Lord once become your desire and delight the Duties you perform will become more pleasant and delightful and undistracted God is light and in him there is no darkness nothing but what is desirable All Excellencies in the Creatures are derived from him and the Streams are but little if we look to the Fountain from whence they all come This God as excellent and glorious as he is is willing in Christ to be yours Such loveliness Such loving kindness what Love does it call for from you Let nothing be able to draw away your Love and the
with their Tongues for their Heart was not right with him neither were they stedfast in his Covenant Had they not felt God's Hand he had not heard their Voice had not peril been extream they would not have run to this Rock for refuge had not enemies prest hard upon them they would not have cryed to this high Redeemer for deliverance But their cries were lies and flatteries As soon as the danger was in their apprehension over their naughty Hearts started aside like deceitful bowes and they soon returned to their corrupt way In Attending upon God let not Affliction Conviction and fear of punishment be the only cords that hale you to your Duty The more there is of God's Servants wills in his work the more acceptable and well-pleasing is the Service III. There is an Attendance upon God which is ordinary and extraordinary 1. An Attendance upon God which is ordinary As we are ordinarily to be employed in the works of our particular Callings so the works of our general Calling as we are Christians must in no wise be neglected As we have Bodies to feed and to cloath and some business about the World to mind and manage So we have Souls to look after and a God to serve and this is the main business of all To work out our Salvation with fear and trembling is that which should always be upon our Hearts That Man may truly say Diem perdidi I have lost a day if a day is gone and nothing at all of this work done Mary is commended who heard and heeded Christ's word and according to the direction of it minded the one thing needful and chose the good part which could not be taken away from her Whereas Martha is taxed and reproved for being careful and troubled about many things Luke 10. 41 42. All the Lord's Servants are to be Attendants in ordinary Religion is to be the constant business of their lives as being of greatest concern and most worthy of their time and labour 2. There is an Attendance upon God which is extraordinary When he goes out of the common way and course of his Providence his Servants ought to follow him and as He acts extraordinarily in a way of Judgment or of Mercy They are to do something extraordinary in the Duties they have such a signal and loud Call to Acts of severity are styled God's strange Acts Isa 28. 21. The Lord will rise up as in Mount Perazim that he may do his work his strange work and bring to pass his act his strange act Affliction is said to be strange either because his ordinary course is otherwise Kindness and Mercy is that which he delights in shewing or it may denote Judgments that are unusual and that have something more than ordinary of terror and instruction When the Lord is thus raised up out of his holy Habitation and comes forth to visit and punish Iniquity there should be great preparation to meet him Amos 4. 12. Because I will do this unto thee prepare to meet thy God O Israel There should be deep Humiliation before him 1 Pet. 5. 6. Humble your selves therefore under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time There must be strong cries unto him for pitty favour and a spirit suited to his dealings Psal 18. 6. In my distress I called upon the Lord and cryed unto my God he heard my Voice out of his holy Temple and my cry came before him even into his Ears Sin must be forsaken with more than ordinary sorrow and hatred as that which has provoked the Lord to be so very angry and Righteousness must be followed after with greater zeal and diligence Isa 26. 9. When thy Judgments are in the Earth the Inhabitants of the World will learn Righteousness On the other side when God does act extraordinarily in deliverance and salvation Songs suitable to Deliverance should be loud the Heart should be exceedingly well tuned to praise his Name His Attendants should call upon their Souls and all that is within them to bless him Psal 103. 1. Love should be extraordinarily ardent unto God the deliverer when extraordinary deliverance has been wrought And he that is so mighty to save should be both feared and believed in together Exod. 14. 31. And Israel saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians and the People feared the Lord and believed the Lord and his Servant Moses I might also add that when Falls have been foul and scandalous sins have been committed then there should be extraordinary contrition and supplication unto God for Pardon Healing for Establishment by his Spirit and for the Joy of his Salvation When David an eminent Saint and Prophet was of a sudden turned black as Hell and become a Monster of Ingratitude Impurity and Cruelty he comes unto God being awakened by Nathan's Ministry with great shame and brokenness of Heart Psal 51. 16 17. he implores mercy begs Ease and the healing of his wounded Conscience He cries for a clean Heart and a right Spirit and being sensible of his own weakness nay treacherousness and unfaithfulness to himself he intreats that the Lord would undertake for him and by his own free Spirit continually uphold him IV. There is an Attendance upon God which is Secret in the Closet Private in the Family and Publick in the Congregation 1. An Attendance upon God that is Secret in the Closet Our Lord was much in Prayer alone by himself sometime a great while before Day and sometime he continued in it all Night He commands and urges secret Prayer upon every one of his Disciples Mat. 6. 6. But thou when thou prayest enter into thy Closet and when thou hast shut thy Door pray to thy Father which is in secret and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly God sees in secret and hears even whisper'd Confessions and Petitions And when 't is said that He is in secret it seems to intimate a special gracious presence that is vouchsafed to them that are often alone with him In this secret Attendance upon God we may use a greater 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 freedom of Speech and tell him all that we fear and feel and ayle and desire Secret Duties which Man can take no notice of have not those motives which are very prevalent with Hypocrites who lov'd to Pray standing in the Synagogues and in the Corners of the Streets where two Streets met that those in the one Street and in the other might behold their Devotions and applaud them God is pleased to listen and hearken after Prayer and there is not the closest homeliest Corner where there is a sincere Supplicant but God is really there to fulfil and grant the desire and to support the burthen'd if not to remove the burthens that are groaned under Psal 38. 9. All my desire is before thee and my groaning is not hid from thee As according to Solomon A gift in secret pacifieth
of their Father they will do He is an hater of God and so are they All wicked Men are alienated from God and Enemies in their Minds by wicked works they dislike him and his Service they get out of his ways and turn aside out of his paths and say Cause the holy One of Israel to cease from before us Isa 30. 11. they care not to hear to think of this holy One they cannot abide to walk in his holy ways Now if love to God be the first and great Command how great a sin must the hatred of God be called and how unfit are they to be admitted hereafter into his glorious Presence and Kingdom who now say unto God depart from us Most worthy they are to be sent away from him with his Curse and to be sentenced to that everlasting Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels whom they resemble in hating of God and with whom they have joyned in rebelling against him 2. They are to be reproved who account Attendance upon God needless The Mind of Man appears to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 void of Judgment in determing what things are mainly to be minded Things that are vanity and vexation of Spirit what pains are taken to get them what care is taken to keep them The one thing needful is neglected as if it were the only thing unnecessary The Heathen Poet cryed out O curas hominum O quantum est in rebus inane The Care of Man about empty things how injudicious is it Time can be found for every thing but the making provision for Eternity and yet the providing for Eternity is the main thing to be done in time and time was given chiefly for the doing of this Are these to be our great enquiries What shall we eat and drink and wherewith shall we be cloathed and adorned How shall we heap up wealth and gratifie our selves with sensual pleasures How shall we live plentifully our selves and leave abundant substance to Posterity Certainly there are matters of far greater importance and necessity to be regarded The truly grand Enquiries are of another Nature How shall sin be pardoned and the Wrath of God appeased How shall the Heart be changed and made a new one and the Soul that is so precious saved How shall God be attended on and served and glorified so as to be enjoyed and eternal blessedness attained in the Enjoyment of him Attendance upon God is no more to be accounted needless than eternal happiness is needless than the loss of a Soul more valuable than the whole World is to be esteemed a small matter 3. They are to be reproved who look upon attendance on God as a weariness and grievous In following and trudging after Mammon they are unwearied How swift and many are the steps in the way to Earthly Delights and Treasure They rise up early sit up late rack their Wits grow Lean with Care for the things of the World and they are not grudging at all this Toil and Labour But when they come to wait upon God time moves very slowly a quarter seems longer than an hour Duties are tedious to them they are loth to begin and assoon as they have begun they do not wish for Communion with God or that they themselves might be better'd but that their Duties were at an end The Prophet is very sharp against them who despised the Table of the Lord and look'd upon the fruit and meat of it contemptible and they said behold what a weariness it is Mal. 1. 12 13. God is weary of such unwilling Services as yours are Isa 1. 13 14. Bring no more vain Oblations they are a trouble to me I am weary to bear them And as he is weary of your services so he quickly may be weary to bear you and he may count it a comfort to be rid of you Ezek. 5. 13. Thus my anger shall be accomplished and I will cause my Fury to rest upon them and I will be comforted and they shall know that I the Lord have spoken it in my Zeal when I have accomplished my Fury in them We read of some that were weary of Sabbaths the Ordinances then administred were to them no priviledges and when will the Sabbath be gone was their Language Amos 8. 5. but ver 7. the Lord swares he would not forget their works and he threatens ver 11. to send a Famine in the Land not a Famine of Bread nor athirst for Water but a Famine of hearing the words of the Lord And how unlikely were they ever to be saved from whom even the means of Salvation were taken away 4. They are to be reproved who are sinfully ashamed or afraid to attend upon God Some Ages are so degenerate that Religion grows exceedingly out of fashion and contempt of God and prophaneness is the thing that is al-a-mode When great Men think it below them to be good and Policy contemns Piety when the vilest Men are exalted and wickedness grows into credit when Judgment is turned away backward and Justice standeth afar off when Truth is fallen in the Streets and Equity cannot enter and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a Prey Isa 59 14 15. then this fear and shame that I am speaking against is apt to prevail But why should any be ashamed to own themselves Servants to the greatest and best of Lords Is not he glorious in Holiness Are not his Precepts concerning all things to be esteemed right Are not all those ways false that lead from him Has he not said Those that honour me I will honour and those that despise me shall be lightly esteemed 1 Sam. 2. 30. Christ will be ashamed of them at the great day who are ashamed of him and of his Word before a perverse and wicked Generation And why should any be afraid to attend upon that mighty Lord who does according to his Will in the Armies of Heaven and among the Inhabitants of the Earth and all the Inhabitants of the World are reputed as nothing before him Dan. 4. 35. Attenders upon God should banish the fear of Man for God has evil Men and evil Angels in a Chain and his sincere Servants under his own keeping Those who are afraid of Man that shall dye forget the living God and their Duty towards him and how able he is to protect them in the faithful discharge of it 5. They are to be reproved who attend upon God that they may cover and cloak their wicked and worldly and selfish designs They put on a form of Godliness but 't is the better to hide their wickedness They are for external Worship but when they seem to seek after God most of all they are nothing at all but self-seekers and Religion is most unworthily made subservient to secular Interest Thus the Birds of Prey when they soar highest towards Heaven have their Eyes still downwards towards the Earth to see what they may seize on there But what abominable Hypocrisie
purifie your Hearts ye double-minded So Psal 24. 3 4. Who shall ascend into the Hill of the Lord and who shall stand in his holy place He that hath clean Hands and a pure Heart The Gospel strictly commands good works without these Faith is dead and vain and Love is only a seeming Fire The Apostle speaks with great vehemency Tit. 3. 8. This is a faithful saying and these things I will that thou affirm constantly that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works Our Lord owns them for his near and dear kindred who are doers of his Father's Work and Will Mat. 12. 50. He stretched forth his Hand towards his Disciples and said behold my Mother and my Brethren For whosoever shall do the Will of my Father which is in Heaven the same is my Brother and Sister and Mother Attenders upon God must not allow themselves in the doing of Evil Fellowship with the unfruitful works of Darkness and Fellowship with God are inconsistent 1 Joh. 1. 6. If we say we have Fellowship with him and walk in Darkness we ly and do not the truth Unless there be a living to God serving of him in Ordinances is of no account with him And as Hands must be cleansed so the Hearts of Attenders on God must be pure The Heart must not defile it self by regarding any iniquity so as to be unwilling to have it subdued Psal 66. 18. If I regard iniquity in my Heart the Lord will not hear me Regarded iniquity will cry so loud for a denial that Prayer will find no Audience The Heart must not pollute it self by love to the World for if this love prevail there can neither be any true love to the Father nor any Interest in the Father's love 1 Joh. 2. 15 Love not the World neither the things that are in the World if any Man love the World the love of the Father is not in him The Heart must consent to the crucifixion of all the affections and lusts of the Flesh It must not be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 double-minded on and off with God but steddy and right with him It s resolution must be to be holy still and its desire to be still holy more and more to have holiness perfected in the sear of God 6. Our Attendance upon God must be with Humility Fear and Faith without wrath and doubting Humility becomes the very Angels for all their excellency is derived and they are charged with possible folly Job 4. 18. 't is owing to the Election and confirming Grace of God that some Angels stood when others being left to the freedom of their own Will apostatized How humble should the Children of Men be who are fallen by their Iniquity The best of Saints have reason to be low in their own Eyes considering how many Talents they owed before they were satisfied for and paid by their Surety and how apt they are still to trespass It may be said of the strongest Christian stand he could not stand he would not were he not upheld by the Lord 's free and mighty Spirit But an humble Sense of our Worthlesness and ill-deserving should not hinder the acting of our Faith in Jesus when we come before the Lord. Our great Redeemer has bought us with a Price and he has bought all things for us We our selves are his Purchase and so is all that Grace we need and all that Glory we hope for God has made a Covenant with Christ and has promised to give us to him for his Inheritance and Possession Psal 2. 8. Ask of me and I shall give thee the Heathen for thine Inheritance and the uttermost parts of the Earth for thy Possession And to be Christ's Inheritance and Possession implies our being separated from the World our being secured our being made fruitful and our eternal continuing to be enjoyed by him and to enjoy him Promises of all and especially of the best Blessings are made to us for Christ's sake and he will see to the making of them good because the accomplishment of them is so much for the Father's Glory as well as our truest Welfare All this may exceedingly strengthen and raise our Confidence and Hope when we attend on God Doubts concerning our speeding should be look'd upon as unreasonable when we come in such a prevailing Name as Christ's unto his Father and our Father his God and our God and we ask only for things agreeable to his Will 1 John 5. 14 15. And this is the confidence we have in him that if we ask any thing according to his Will he heareth us and if we know that he heareth us we know that we have the Petition we desired of him And as Faith is opposed to doubting so to wavering James 1. 6 7. But let him ask in Faith nothing wavering for he that wavereth is like a Wave of the Sea driven with the Wind and tossed For let not that Man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. He is the wavering Man whose Mind hangs doubtful and unresolved between God and the World Christ and Satan Sin and Holiness Such an Attender upon God who is more inclined to serve other Lords shall certainly be rejected Finally The Apostle forbids not only Doubting but Wrath also 1 Tim 2. 8. I will therefore that Men pray every where lifting up holy hands without Wrath or Doubting The Wrath of Man worketh not the Righteousness of God nay it causes an abounding in Transgression The Leaven of Anger and Malice is diligently to be searched for and purged out as that which if it remains will prove us carnal 1 Cor. 3. 3. For whereas there is among you Envying and Strife and Divisions Are ye not carnal and walk as Men Civil Discords Church-Divisions unruly Passions should be avoided with Care and Fear we should be full of Holy Love to all our Brethren ready to forgive the greatest Injuries and Enemies forward to pursue and promote Vnity and Peace whenever we attend upon Him who has called himself the God of Love and Peace 7. Our Attendance upon God should be with Gladness and Delight and a sense how good 't is for us to approach his presence Where the Will of God is best done and that is in Heaven there is the greatest Joy in the doing of it The chearful joyful Servant is a Credit to his Work honours his Lord and is a great Eye-sore to the evil one for Satan is very much afraid lest the Attenders upon God being full of Gladness others should be induced to try that Work and Service which these find so exceeding comfortable Hypocrites that go no further than the out-side of Religion count it wearisome because they do not understand it But as God takes pleasure in the Vpright so the Upright find the truest Pleasure in God and in his Ways The Psalmist speaks upon very good ground Psal 32. 11. Be glad in the Lord and rejoyce ye Righteous
abundantly more Eph. 3. 20. Who can conceive how beneficial waiting upon God is That passage is both encouraging and amazing Isa 64. 4. For since the beginning of the World Men have not heard nor perceived by the Ear neither hath the Eye seen O God besides thee what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him 3. God is ready to cover a multitude of Infirmities in them that sincerely attend upon him He mercifully observes how willing their Spirits are when their Flesh is weak and cannot keep pace with their renewed Minds When our Lord was in an Agony his Disciples could not watch with him one hour but were fallen asleep yet he himself graciously excuses it Matt. 26. 41. The Spirit indeed is willing but the Flesh is weak and passes it by He takes notice of the Lustings of the Spirit against the Flesh the Strivings of Grace against Sin and Corruption and passes by the Lusting of the Flesh against the Spirit the Strivings of Sin against Grace The Lord does not enter into Judgment with his Servants nor deal in Rigour with them but he expresses Fatherly Tenderness and Compassion towards them Psal 103. 13. Like as a Father pittieth his Children so the Lord pittieth them that fear him We are directed to beg for the Forgiveness of Trespasses daily which shews that as the Disciples of Christ daily offend so their Heavenly Father is ready to grant forgiveness daily to them Nay Iniquity cleaves unto our holiest things our best Dâ—ties should and might be done a great deal better These Infirmities then are much to be lamented more and more striven against and seeing our selves compassed about with them we should banish all Self-confidence and look into Jesus that in him we may find acceptance and certainly the Righteousness of Christ the Son of God and the Father's love in him will cover the greatest multitude of bewailed Infirmities and Offences 4. It may be also Comfort to Attenders upon God to think whom they have attending upon them Saints on Earth have the Angels in Heaven to be their Guardians Christ is signified by Jacob's Ladder the Angels of God are said to ascend and descend upon the Son of Man John 1. 51. 'T is owing to our Lord Jesus that Believers have the Benefit of the Angels Ministry and the Apostle signifies that all of them are thus employed for the Saints Protection and Security Heb. 1. 14. Are they not all ministring Spirits sent forth to minister for them that shall be heirs of Salvation The reprobate and evil Angels resist Attenders upon God but the elect and good Angels are their Friends These Angels that excel in strength How do they rejoyce when any repent and are converted And they have a Charge over Converts to keep them in all their ways Psal 91. 11. and when 't is added v. 13. Thou shalt tread upon the Lion and the Adder the young Lion and the Dragon thou shalt trample under feet It may be intimated that Satan's Force and Fury and Subtlety shall be ineffectual and that by his Temptations he shall not prevail But though Angels attend the Servants of God they are not wholly trusted to the Angelical Care The Lord himself is their Keeper The Father and the Son come to them and make their abode in them and will secure their own Mansions till they are out of the reach of Enemies and past all danger 5. Sincere Attendance upon God shall attend upon him after another and better manner in another World They shall be sitted for and admitted into the presence Chamber of the King of Glory In Heaven there will be no need of the Sun or of the Moon to shine in it for the Glory of the Lord does lighten it and the Lamb is the light thereof Rev. 21. 23. and Rev. 22. 3. And there shall be no more Curse but the Throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it and his Servants shall serve him They shall serve him so as never in the least to disserve him they shall do his Will and nothing at all contrary to it there will be a Perfection of Delight and Rest and Peace in the Obedience they shall yield when they rest not day and night saying Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty which was and is and is to come Rev. 4. 8. and Rev. 5. 13. Blessing and Honour and Glory and Power be unto him that sitteth upon the Throne and to the Lamb for ever and ever All God's sincere Attendants are now advanced to Priestly nay to Kingly Dignity therefore they are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Royal Priesthood 1 Pet. 2. 9. Christ has loved them and washed them from their sins in his own Blood and has made them Kings and Priests unto God and his Father Rev. 1. 5 6. But hereafter they shall inherit and possess the Kingdom prepared for them they shall all of them be actually crown'd with a Crown of Life and Righteousness And Oh what a joyful sight will it be to behold the Lord and all his Saints glorified together with him Col. 3. 4. When Christ who is our Life shall appear then shall ye also appear with him in Glory Thus of the first Doctrine Doct. II. The second Doctrine is this In attending upon God we should look upon him as the Lord and serve him accordingly When God pronounced his own Laws with his own Mouth upon Mount Sinai He thus begins I am the Lord Exod. 20 2. and this was to awe Israel into Obedience We read Deut 6. 4. Hear O Israel the Lord our God is one Lord. No other Lord is his equal no Commands to be regarded like his Commands None so worthy of service as He He must have attendance who or whatever is neglected Psal 89. 6 7. Who in Heaven can be compared to the Lord who among the Sons of the Mighty can be likened unto the Lord The mightiest Monarchs upon Earth the highest Angels in Heaven are infinitely below him therefore it follows God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of his Saints and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him Holy David cries out Psal 8. 1. O Lord our Lord how excellent is thy Name in all the Earth who hast set thy Glory above the Heavens He worshipped and praised him as the highest Sovereign who excelled all things on Earth and whose Glory the Heaven though full of it was not able to contain and when he says our Lord 't is intimated that he was truly his Servant and Subject and that he gloried in subjection to him In the handling of this Doctrine I shall First Shew you how God is the Lord. Secondly Manifest what influence and effect the apprehension of his being Lord should have upon us when we attend upon him Thirdly and Lastly make Application In the first place I am to shew you how God is the Lord. His Majesty may amaze us when we think or speak of his Dominion we should
increasing till it issue in glory John 4. 14. But the water that I shall give him shall be in him a Well of water springing up into everlasting Life And as all sorts of Life are from God so all sorts of Death he has power to inflict All Afflictions and Plagues when this Lord sends them do say Here we are The King of Terrors Death is God's subject and says I am ready to strike young or old high or low few or many as the Lord of all does give me Commission and Command And the second Death at God's righteous pleasure opens its everlasting doors to receive and eternally to swallow up all that he sentences thither Isa 5. 14. Therefore Hell hath enlarged her self and opened her mouth without measure and their glory and their multitude and their pomp and he that rejoyceth shall descend into it Such a Lord the effects of whose love and anger are felt not only in this World but also in the other and indeed run parallel with Eternity should certainly be attended on with a great dread of offending him with the exactest care in every thing to please him 7. God is a Lord obeyed by the whole Creation but only Men on earth and Devils and damned Spirits in Hell These greater lights the Sun and Moon that rule the day and night are perfectly ruled by their Maker and rise and set at his command And to shew that he can stop the Sun in its swift motion at Joshua's intreaty he commanded it to stand still in Gibeon and the Moon in the Valley of Ajalon Josh 10. 12. Nay in the days of Hezekiah he makes the Sun to move backward and to return no less than ten degrees by which it had gone down Isa 38. 8. All the Stars of Heaven he calls by their names and they observe their courses according to his Ordinances The Sea does ebb and flow according to his appointment and keep within the bounds that he has set it when it roars and is most tempestuous The Storms and Winds fulfil his word and if he do but say to them Peace be still presently there is a great calm He calls for the Thunder and the Lightning and how terrible is the Voice of the one and the flashing of the other The Thunder is silenced and the Lightning extinguished at his pleasure All Creatures that glide through the Air or slide through the Ocean that feed and grow upon the Earth in their way and manner obey their Maker and Preserver's Will Fye Oh Fye upon Apostate Angels and Men that they should be the only Rebels Look upward downward on the right hand and on the left and the many Thousands of Creatures which your Eyes behold are so many instances of Obedience to God Why Oh why should not all we be ready to yield our utmost Service 8. God is a Lord who over-rules them that rebel against him though they break his Commands they cannot get from under his power but he can check restrain disappoint and destroy them at his pleasure The Seed of the Woman has been hated by the Serpents brood and they that have been born only after the Flesh have been strongly inclined to persecute such as have been born after the Spirit Gal. 4. 28 29. Now we Brethren as Isaac was are the Children of Promise But as then he that was born after the Flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit even so it is now And so 't is likely to be still When Heathen Emperors and Kings were Converts to the Christian Faith the Prince of Darkness did not turn and change He always was and is and will be full of Malice against Christ the Head and against his true Members And those who are of their Father the Devil the Lusts of their Father they will do and they that are Saints must expect find their Hearts set against them and as far as they can their hands too But that Lord who is with his People is greater infinitely than the evil one 1 John 4. 4. Ye are of God little Children and have overcome them because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the World As Satan's Subtlety is nothing to God's Wisdom as his Power is small to God's Almightiness so his Wrath though never so great is a little and contemptible thing when the Love which God bears to his People is believingly considered The mightiest Men whom Satan employs to run down the Church of the living God shall never affect their wicked purpose the Church triumphs over her most surious Enemies looking unto her Mighty Helper Psal 46. 5 6 7. God is in the midst of her she shall not be moved God shall help her and that right early The Heathen raged the Kingdoms were moved They stirred up themselves with their united force and in their rage they would have devoured the Israel of God but He uttered his Voice and the Earth melted All these Enemies were dispirited and came to nothing and no wonder for it follows The Lord of Hosts is with us the God of Jacob is our refuge Selah Well may the voluntary Subjects of such a Lord attend upon him with forwardness and Faith since he has such an absolute uncontrolable Dominion over all his and their Enemies 9. God is a Lord infinitely above and better than any other Lords whatsoever As he is infinitely superior to all in Majesty and Greatness so also in Mercy and Goodness The whole Earth is full of Divine Goodness Psal 145. 9. The Lord is good to all and his tender Mercies are over all his works It is special and peculiar Kindness which is shewn to his Saints Psal 103. 11. As the Heaven is high above the Earth so great is his Mercy towards them that fear him What are other Lords if compared with God As for Mammon who has most of Mankind to be his Vassals his delights are low his Riches uncertain his all is Vanity Satan is a cruel Lord he is a Lyar who deceives a Murtherer who destroys all whom he can keep under his Power and Dominion And the Wages which Sin does give to them that serve it is eternal Death and the more diligent they have been in the Service of Sin and the more laborious Workers of Iniquity Hell will be so much the hotter their Sorrow and Misery so much the greater Are such Lords as these comparable to the Lord Jehovah whose Strength whose Love is everlasting What care does he take of all that are truly his Servants How mild and gentle is his Government His Kingdom is Righteousness and Peace and Joy It was a Pious Ejaculation of one of the Ancients Da Domine quod jubes O Lord give that which thou commandest His Servants are by himself created in Christ Jesus unto the good works in which he has commanded them to walk He teaches them by his own Spirit to do his Will Psal 143. 10. Teach me to do thy Will for
Help against Divine Anger Nay here the mightiest Man can be no Security Job 9. 13. If God will not withdraw his Anger the proud Helpers do stoop under him And those whom the Lord does undertake to comfort why should Man that shall dye dismay them Isa 51. 12 13. I even I am he that comforteth you Who art thou that thou shouldst be afraid of a Man that shall dye and of the Son of Man which shall be as Grass And forgetest the Lord thy Maker that stretched forth the Heavens and laid the Foundations of the Earth His Power may well make the Fury of Oppressors contemptible But God's Power is irresistable as his Wrath is intolerable 3. They are to be reproved who prefer the worst Lords before the greatest and the best of all The true God is certainly the best Lord and Sin and Satan are the worst that can be served and yet how few has the former how many Servants have the later The Lord's Government is most gracious the Paths he requires us to walk in are Pleasantness and Peace Prov. 3. 17. But the Ways of Sin are quite contrary No Peace saith my God to the wicked Isa 57. 21. Whatever Sin in the beginning may seem its End is bitter as Wormwood sharp as a two-edged Sword and they that serve it their Feet go down to Death and their Steps will quickly take hold of Hell Shall I shew you the manner of Sin and Satan's Reign Their Vassals are put upon Cruel Hard Service and they must stick at nothing If the fulfilling of their Lusts call for it the Estate must be wasted Health must be endangered Repute and good Name must be disregarded Posterity must be beggared Life it self must be shortened and the precious Soul lost for ever rather than sin not be gratified and served Sin has a Law and what Command does it impose upon those that are subject to it Its Injunctions are such as these Fight against God and slight the Wrath of the Lord Almighty Mind neither thy Duty nor thy Safety Pursue Vanity and Vexation of Spirit but care not for the truest and eternal Blessedness Be sure to please thy Flesh and seek thy self and mind thy Carnal Interest though thou art in the worst Sense undone thereby Go on impenitently and securely in thy Wickedness till thou fall into Hell Flames Do all this and dye and damn thy self unto Eternity What hard sayings are these Yet Thousands and Millions hear and obey them It is amazing that those who have reasonable Souls should act so void of all sound Reason as to refuse his Service who commands them to be wise and safe and good and should chuse to be Fools and to be miserable 4. They are to be reproved who have begun to serve the Lord and afterwards forsake his Service and revolt from him These revolters shew a great Zeal and Forwardness in Religion many of them for a time they seem to have escaped the pollutions of the World and to have got the Victory over it and to have overcome the evil One but being again entangled and overcome themselves by Mammon and Satan they are a credit to these Masters and to their false and pernicious ways but they are a great dishonour to Religion and to the Author of it the Lord of Glory These revolters discover an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God which is so much caution'd against Heb. 3. 12. and if without Faith 't is impossible to please God how much must he needs be provoked by infidelity and with what Torments will their unbelief at last be confuted and punished together These Revolters quench a great deal of Light which has shined into them this aggravates the works of darkness unto which they return though they have under Conviction felt the Terrors of the Lord yet they venture more than ever to incense him in a special manner they grieve the Spirit of God and deeply wound their own Spirits But these Wounds are not felt at present their Consciences are seared Satan has fuller and faster possession of them fulness of sin quickly follows and the last state with them is worse than the first Mat. 12. 45. USE II. Shall be of Advice in these particulars 1. Hearken to the Lord inviting and calling you all to his Service There is room in his House for many Thousands more than are there and there is plentiful and abundant provision for their entertainment In my Father's House says the Prodigal when he came to himself there is Bread enough and to spare Luke 15. 17. Christ's Sacrifice of himself can put away multitudes of sins more than as yet have been pardon'd And though Millions of empty and lost Souls more come to him out of his fulness they may be all replenished and secure under the shadow of his wings His Messengers say to you Come himself says Come his Spirit says Come your Wants which none but he can supply speak aloud to you to go to him keep therefore no longer at a distance He is most ready to receive you graciously and to communicate grace of all sorts to you 2. Behold how willing this Lord is to pass by all past disobedience upon your believing and repentance The Apostle Paul was not upbraided with his persecuting Rage and Hellish Fury when once he submitted himself to the Lord and laid down his Weapons wherewith he had fought against God The Grace of our Lord says he was exceeding abundant with Faith and Love that is in Christ Jesus 1 Tim. 1. 14. and v. 15 16. he tells us that he the chief of sinners obtained Mercy that the greatest sinners hereafter may hope and expect Mercy upon their believing and Conversion Howbeit for this Cause I obtained Mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all long-suffering for a Pattern to them who should hereafter believe on him to Life Everlasting Whatever your Rebellions have been if now you be willing and obedient All shall be forgotten and forgiven Scarlet and Crimson Sins shall become white as Snow and Wool Isa 1. 18 19. 3. See where your Righteousness and Strength lies Jesus Christ the righteous is the Righteousness of them that do believe His Obedience and Sufferings can satisfie for and cover all your Disobedience and 't is through him alone that you attain the free Gift of Justification of Life He became obedient to Death even the Death of the Cross Psal 2. 8. and 't is by the Obedience of this one the second Adam that all as many can believe in him are made righteous Rom. 5. 19. And as in the Lord you have Righteousness so in him you have Strength too His Power must rest upon you else no good will be done by you Through his Strength all things may be done but he himself says without me ye can do nothing Joh. 15. 5. Never think by good Works to satisfie for bad ones The best Works have much amiss in them And
by no means entertain an Imagination that at your own Pleasure you can work in your selves to will and to do but always acknowledge the necessity and Efficacy of the Grace of Christ and glorifie that Grace saying when you obey and labour it is not I but the Grace of God that is with me 4. Earnestly desire that your Hearts may be circumcised to love both the Lord himself and his Service likewise It is a Promise worth more and if made good to us will enrich us more than the Wealth of both the Indies Deut. 30. 6. The Lord thy God will circumcise thy Heart and the Heart of thy Seed to love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul that thou mayst live An Heart to love him is his own Gift and the Heart must be circumcised by himself before it will be brought to love him The Prophet speaks of the Foreskin of the Heart that must be taken away Now this Foreskin of the Heart is Carnal and Worldly Love together with Enmity against God and his Law Cry to the Lord according to his good Word of Promise to mortifie the one and to subdue the other And that he would give you a new Heart and Nature cause a new Light to shine that may manifest his glorious Goodness in the Face of Christ and so direct your Hearts into the Love of himself If he be truly loved he will be the more willingly obeyed and truly his Precepts are worthy to be loved too the better they are kept the more truly excellent are those that keep them And themselves are kept in more perfect Peace The Psalmist says My Soul hath kept thy Testimonies and I love them exceedingly Psal 119. 167. and no wonder for he had said before v. 165. Great Peace have they that love thy Law and nothing shall offend them Such a Lord such a Law deserves Love and Love will sweeten Service it will not count this Service tedious but mightily incline the Heart to Perseverance in its Duty 5. Let your Fear and Awe of the Lord's Majesty when you attend upon him be joyn'd with an Hope in his Mercy If Fear and Hope are thus joyned together as you will be the more encouraged in God so God will take the more Pleasure in you For the Lord takes Pleasure in them that fear him and in those that hope in his Mercy Psal â—47 11. The Mercy of God is magnified in his Word on purpose that Hope may be raised and rise still higher and higher This Lord on whom you ought to attend is rich in Mercy His merciful Kindness is great Psal 117. 2. He has Mercy not upon the account of Merit in Man but because he will have Mercy Rom. 9. 18. And how often is it said Psal 136. that his Mercy endures for ever Here is a large and firm Foundation for Hope to build on And if your Hope be not presumptuous but of a purifying Nature you may from such a merciful Lord confidently expect that Grace and those good things you need in time And when your short time is at an end the best things of all unto eternity I have done with the second Doctrine Doct. III. I come now to the third and last Doctrine which I principally design to insist on That Attendance upon the Lord should be without Distractien 'T is not only Apostacy from the Faith and the Practice of Religion which the Apostle bids us to take heed of which is a more gross departing away from God but he cautions against any Withdrawings of Heart from that Lord with whom we have to do Therefore in a time of Distress and Persecution he prefers a single State before Wedlock not that Marriage in it self considered has any thing of Sin in it for 't is honourable in all not that a single State in it self has any thing of Holiness but because the Cares that attend Marriage are apt to distract the Mind and to hinder the things that belong to the Lord from being cared for as they ought and might be Indeed in the Context there is a plain Intimation that 't is a great part of Christian Prudence so to order our secular Affairs and to make choice of such a Condition of Life as may be most subservient to our spiritual Designs and may least interfere with our main Business which is the Lord's Service that that may be done without Distraction They are pronounced to be the blessed ones who keep God's Testimonies and that seek him with the whole Heart Psal 119. 2. And since the whole Heart must seek him the Thoughts the Affections the all of the Heart must attend upon him nothing of the Soul must be absent or withdrawn The Prophet speaks of the Hearts engaging to approach unto God Jer. 30. 21. For who is this that engageth his Heart to approach unto me Saith the Lord. That the Heart may be thus engaged for God it must be disengaged from other things and all that is within it too must be engaged to approach to him When Moses and the Children of Israel were to go into the Wilderness to serve the Lord They went with their young and old with their Flocks and their herds there was not an Hoof left behind Exod. 10. 26. And when we go to serve our God we should go with our all No Power of our Souls should be exempted not so much as a Thought should be left behind In the handling of this Doctrine I shall First tell you what Distraction in attending upon God is Secondly What it is to attend upon the Lord without Distraction Thirdly Assign the Reasons why with such Care we should take heed of Distraction in serving him Answer in the fourth place some Cases of Conscience about these Distractions Fifthly make Application In the first place I am to tell you what Distraction in attending upon God is 'T is the first Step to the Cure to know our Disease and to have a right Sense of it Several things are here to be premised 1. Distraction is the Fault of the Heart That deceitful and wicked thing how many Faults has it And how often does it withdraw when we have to do with God flying as Jonah from his Presence and being any where but where it should be Indeed sometimes this Distraction does but too visibly and scandalously appear by unnecessary Whisperings by Salutations when Persons are in God's Sanctuary and Service by the wandring of the Eye and other irreverent Carriage and Behaviour in the time of Worship These when ordinarily allowed are plain Indications that the Heart is not in God's Work and which is worse cares not to be engaged therein And how blameworthy then is it It is the Heart which foolishly departs from the Lord. It is not so right and stedfast with him as it should be Psal 78. 8. A Generation that set not their Heart aright and whose Spirit was not stedfast with God has a Brand set
assistance The looking upon the Defects in our Services should make us look unto our Lord in whom we are compleat Col. 2. 10. and with a more intire dependance to rest upon his righteousness hereby Christ is honoured and the Father pleased and a multitude of faults will be cover'd But help against them must be desired from the Holy Ghost A gracious heart still desires renewed strength and aid from the Spirit to serve the Lord more acceptably but a lazy reliance upon Christ with an allowance of defects and distractions in the Duties we perform must needs be a very great provocation CASE VI. What course are Melancholick Persons to take in their Attendance on God when Distractions arise from the prevalency of that Distemper I answer 1. They should take heed of prolixity and length in holy Duties It is not length but life in these Duties that God looks at It is a thought that may lodge in the Breast of an Heathen but is unworthy of a Christian's heart that he shall be heard 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for his much speaking Mat. 6. 7. Christians should not think much of the time they spend with God yet overdoing in this regard is doing less than if less were done When Melancholy hinders Duties from being extended as formerly with vigour and fervency they were they that more briefly now perform them should be the more frequent in short and holy Ejaculations And they must be sure to take heed of taking more pains to fix their thoughts than their heads will bear for when their Heads are out of order the more they labour to be intent the further they are off from it the disorder increases and so does their discouragement The Lord pities in such cases and allows them to spare their pains which are not only fruitless but hurtful and to pity themselves and not to attempt what a distempered Brain is unfit for 2. Melancholick ones must look unto Jesus in the due use of means for the cure of Head Distempers How many corporal Maladies did our Lord heal in a miraculous manner when he was here on Earth And he has not put off his Compassions towards the Bodies of Men now he is in Heaven Though the skill of the Lutist be never so great he can never make good Musick if the Lute it self be out of tune Satan has great advantage by prevailing Melancholy to hinder Devotion by the disorder of the Head though the Heart be never so honest and well inclin'd And our Lord very well knows this and being a merciful and faithful High-priest he is ready to succour in this case also Heb. 2. ult All power is given to him in Earth as well as Heaven all judgment committed to him Joh. 5. 22. so that all Distempers and Diseases come and go at his Command and though Miraculous Cures are not now to be expected yet something like them sometimes has been wrought in answer unto Prayer and Faith and where there has been a stedfast looking to Jesus there has been a mighty Blessing that has attended the means that have been used for the bringing of Blood and Spirits and Brain into better order 3. There are two great Duties which those that are under the power of Melancholy are not so sit for The one is Meditation and the other Self examination A distemper'd and disordered Head will make but sorry work of solemn Meditation the Head will ake the Mind will be lost in a cloud and mist of Confusion and the evil one will be ready to strike in and make the Melancholick Man turn self-accuser and consequently self-tormenter Such an one therefore should be wary of attempting the Duty of set Meditation but that and reading should be joyned together A short consideration of what is read there should be as the Head will bear a desire that the Heart may be affected and by the Grace of God a resolution to act and walk accordingly and those should be the Petitions Incline my heart unto thy Testimonies and make me to go in the path of thy Commandments Psal 119. 35 36. And as for self-examination Melancholick ones being now not so well themselves they should not be forward nor peremptory in passing Censures and Judgment upon themselves and they should be aware that Satan is now busie about them and he being a lying Spirit his Suggestions that they are Hypocrites and have no Grace that they are cast away and utterly forsaken by the God of all Grace should in no wife be credited Satan's Suggestions may be known by the design of them which is not to quicken Souls to Duty as the motions of the holy Spirit are but to drive them away from God and to make them say as he did in another case since the case is desperate and all hope of Salvation gone Why should I wait for the Lord any longer 2 King 2. 33. 4. Melancholick ones in the midst of their Distractions should grieve that neither head nor heart are so disposed to serve the Lord as they desire That 's proper language to be used which came out of the Mouth of holy Job chap. 10. 15. I am full of confusion see thou my Affliction And since they cannot actively glorifie God by the exercise of strong Faith and vehement Love and Joy and Delight in God they should glorifie him by an humble and patient submission to his Will When a melancholick Soul is quite emptied of all self-confidence and self-conceit is in a manner annihilated when under a great sense of its own guilt and vileness it looks unto Jesus and desires by his Blood and Spirit to be justified and washed and made clean when 't is ready to acknowledge that if ever 't is saved and brought to Heaven Grace will be free and superabundant because one of the lowest places in Hell has been deserved how far is flesh from glorying and hereby glory is given to the Lord. When melancholick ones are ready in their greatest Distractions and blackest darkness to justifie the Lord as righteous in all his Ways and holy in all his Works Psal 145. 17. and to condemn themselves because formerly when their Heads were in better order their Hearts were no better disposed and inclined to the Lord's Service they please and glorifie him more than they are aware of The more there is of self-distrust self-dislike self-condemnation humility and patient bearing of Divine Indignation because of sin that has been committed Mic. 7. 9. the more honour by all this does really redound to God 5. Let Melancholick ones take heed of being quite staved off from Duties and Ordinances though their performances are but mean and sorry The Lord can discern sense in the Soul when perhaps there is hardly sense in the words he takes notice of the gracious bent and good inclination of the heart towards himself when the Thoughts against the Will do wander Hezekiah had a most remarkable answer and prayed to good purpose when his Petitions
that here lies the great danger least while God is near in the mouth the World fill the heart and steal it from him There are three things in reference to the World which distract thousands of Hearts and cause millions of Duties to be in vain The one is Love to the World the other is care about it and another is Fear concerning it Of all these you are to beware with the greatest vigilancy and concernedness 1. Take heed of Love to the World If the World has your Love it will have your Thoughts at command and it will not fail to shew its power and to command your thoughts off from God when you attend upon him They that are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lovers of Pleasures more than lovers of God will think of Pleasures rather than of God That Rich Man in the Gospel while he was alive had Moses and the Prophets as well as his Brethren he was an Israelite in Name called himself a Child of Abraham and profest himself a Worshipper of the true God but all his worship was heartless his heart was intoxicated with sensual Delights and his Purple and fine Linen and sumptuous fare which every day was provided for him Luk. 16. 19. That which the Soul takes pleasure in how will it be revolved in the Mind Sports and Pastimes Garbs and Ornaments Journies for diversion and delight Feasts and Mirth and Musick if the Heart is foolishly fond of such sorry things as these how will they possess the Soul and that in the very House of God and when his Ordinances are administred They will be present to the imagination though really absent and an imaginary satisfaction will be taken in them and in the mean while the Lord himself will be forgotten and Communion with him slighted They that are greedy after gain their hearts will be upon their gain while their Bodies are before the Lord. Covetousness commands the Thoughts and extinguishes holy Desires while the Tongue is speaking heavenly words the Mind will be projecting and contriving how to get the Wealth of this World as if to be rich towards God were but a poor thing in comparison The earthly heart pleases it self with the Thoughts of what it has and with the Hopes of getting more of the World that for the flesh more abundant provision may be made Oh suffer not the World to have your love and friendship if you are friends to the World and over familiar with it it will have the more easie and ready access into your hearts at any time and that without the least check Familiar Friends you know make bold to come into your door without knocking for admission 2. Take heed of Care about the World How do these solicitous cares about earthly things distract and divide the Mind When the Kingdom of God and his righteousness should be sought there is a taking thought for Food and Raiment and things of that inferiour nature Our Lord knew the evil of these Cares and therefore uses a great many words to disswade from them He tells us that our heavenly Father clothes the Lillies of the Field and feeds the Fowls of the Air which have neither Storehouse nor Barn and much more will he provide Bread for his Children to eat and Raiment wherewith they may be clothed and they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of little Faith that make any doubt of it Mat. 6. 30. If Cares about such things prevail they may cause gross omissions of Duty or if Duties are done they may miscarry in the doing there may be such an anxious solicitousness about this earth and the affairs of it that Heaven and the God of Heaven may be hardly thought of Worldly care is one of the things that chokes the Word and it will choke Prayer also it will hinder the Word from being fruitful and Prayer from being successful You have leave to cast all your care upon God who cares for you 1 Pet. 5. 7. And if banishing distrust in God and eagerness after the the World you are careful for nothing in it you may then by Prayer and Supplication with thanksgiving make your request known unto God Phil. 4. 6. and he will make it known to you that this is the very best course you can take for all manner of supplies 3. Take heed of fear concerning the World Our Lord says why are ye so fearful O ye of little Faith There is great reason for Faith in God no reason for fear what the World can do to you Be not distracted by fear of worldly losses those shall not befal you but when God sees them best for you and they shall turn to your truest gain Be not distracted by fear of the Worlds hatred and the effects of it the Grace and Joy of the Holy Ghost can be an hundredfold better even at present than any worldly comfort that Man can deprive you of If an enraged World can keep you off from the Lord's Service he will have but little from you Be not afraid therefore of their terrour neither be troubled but sanctifie the Lord God in your hearts ◠Pet. 3. 14 15. and he has promised to be a Sanctuary to you The fear of the Lyons Den could not scare Daniel from the Throne of Grace but he prayed and gave Thanks as he was wont before his God If this present World cannot command your love nor care nor raise your fear you will be mightily fortified against one very great cause of Distraction in Religious Services 4. Another cause of Distraction which I must caution you against is Passion and Uncharitableness Passion has a strange and mighty force to transform the whole Soul into it self so that if this prevail not only Grace shall be under a dark Eclipse but even Judgment and Reason and common Prudence shall seem to be altogether banished Passion imbitters or rather invenoms the whole Heart of a Man diffusing it self all over so that all is under the power of it Passion has a monopoly of the thoughts and fixes them upon Injuries received nay though they are but imaginary injuries yet being supposed real how intent is the Mind upon them Perhaps Revenge though so contrary to the Nature of Christianity is wish'd for and meditated Patience indeed possesses the Soul but Passion catches the Soul away so that 't is possest no longer all the Powers and Faculties of the Soul are disturbed and most disorderly employed Passion rises and lies down with the Passionate Man and is a very bad Companion all the day long and when Duties of Religion come to be performed there is so much anger in the heart against Man that God's anger is not feared nor seriously deprecated neither is his love valued or with any earnestness desired As the furious Man abounds in transgression so his attendance upon God abounds in Distractions and these Distractions being the overflowings of wrath and bitterness and hatred how displeasing and abominable must they needs be unto
Trespasses dead to God and to any thing that is truly good employed in nothing but dead works and thereby fitted to destruction And how should your Thoughts be seized on by the obligation your Lord has laid you under in freeing you from Death and eternal Destruction by laying down his own Life a ransom for you Mat. 20. 28. When the Apostle said he determined not to know any thing save Jesus Christ and him crucisied 1 Cor. 2. 2. it shews upon whom his Thoughts were Our Thoughts at the Lord's Table should be fastned to Christ as he was to the Cross We should behold admire and be suitably affected when we behold him that is equal with God in the form of a Servant in the likeness of sinsul Flesh and humbling himself so low as to become obedient to Death even the Death of the Cross Phil. 2. 8. Let the worth of the Person suffering the Merit of the Sufferings themselves and the value of the Benefits thereby procured be believed and how can they chuse but be heedfully thought of 3. Take due notice that Christ when he was dying gave this charge to his Disciples that they should engage in this Ordinance as a Memorial of him Christ's Death was infinitely more than if all Creatures that have Life had lost their Lives to make an atonement Just when he was ready to make his Soul an Offering for sin he bids us to do this in remembrance of him 1 Cor. 11. 23 24. The Lord Jesus the same Night in which he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks he brake it and said Take eat this is my Body which is broken for you do this in remembrance of me The command of such a Lord that Lord dying and dying such a meritorious Death and in that Death expressing Love which passes Knowledge and the Command given on purpose that he might still be and live in our remembrance if well weighed will make us mind what we are doing and prevent distraction 4. The Sacramental Elements and Actions being understood with their signification will be a great means to fix the Thoughts of the Communicants When your Eyes behold the Bread let your Faith behold the Body of Christ When you see the Bread broken believe that Christ was wounded and bruised for your Iniquities and bare them in his Body on the Tree When the Bread is given you understand what a gift of God Christ is When you take the Bread into your hands let your Hearts be open more fully to receive Christ himself and to receive still more from him And when you eat the Bread be sure to feed upon Christ the Bread of Life by Faith Rely upon his Crucifixion as your reconciliation for says the Apostle We are reconciled to God by the Death of his Son Rom 5. 10. And as Bread is the staff of Life so let this Bread of Life be your Souls stay rest upon Christ for spiritual life and strength more and more abundantly to be given you When you perceive the Wine given a part from the Bread think with your selves that your Lord's Life was indeed though not against his Will taken from him Body and Soul were separated though neither from the Godhead Look beyond the Wine to the Blood of Jesus believe it to be more precious than Gold that perishes and that being the blood of him who is God it can do away the greatest guilt and the foulest spots and stains of the sins of Men. When you drink the Wine believe the Cup of Blessing to be indeed the Communion of the Blood of Christ 1 Cor. 10. 16. Rest on this Blood to justifie you from all things for which the Law condemns you Rest on this Blood to pacifie your Consciences and heal the Wounds which sin has made there to purifie and heal all the Plagues of your Hearts to make you perfect in every good work and to open a way for you into the holiest of all Heb. 10. 19. not only to procure constant access to the Throne of Grace but an abundant entrance into the everlasting Kingdom Thus you will be helped against distraction in this Ordinance If what is visible to the Eye the Heart understands and improves 5. That you may be the more serious in this Ordinance of the Lord's Supper remember therein you solemnly renew Covenant with the God of Heaven you give your selves from your selves to him and disclaim all other Lord's and Owners and profess to take him to be your Lord your God your Guide your All. Oh mind what you do that you may be sincere in doing it God has no pleasure in Fools Eccles 5. 4. who consider not with whom they have to do who consider not what evil they do when they do that which is good after a distracted and deceitful manner In this Ordinance the Broad-Seal of Heaven is put into your hand to confirm your Faith in the New Covenant and that you may with greater confidence expect the accomplishment of its Promises He that rests on Christ and hungers and thirsts after righteousness may rejoyce in this Ordinance more than a Bankrupt would do that receives an Acquittance sealed of the release of all his Debts and with it a Will and Testament sealed whereby a plentiful Estate is made over and assured to him And the Communicants solemnly profess a Restipulation they tie themselves faster and more strictly to the Lord there is nothing you have or are but is his Will and Heart and Thoughts are to be ever in his Service and at his Command 6. Be sensible how dreadful guilt is contracted when you are guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord and this guilt comes upon you by distracted careless and unworthy receiving 1 Cor. 11. 27. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this Bread and drink this Cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. The Communicant whose Heart cares not how distracted it is how does he contemn the Son of God his Blood and Benefits If he does not count them worth serious thinking of surely he does not think them worth his thankful acceptance How precious is the Blood of Jesus and what an heavy load is the guilt of such Blood 'T is sad not to be saved by the Blood of Christ but much sorer under the guilt of it to sink lower into Damnation Temporal Punishments that are inflicted upon receiving amiss may be terrible but how much worse are eternal Judgments Oh give your Hearts into God's Hand that he may keep and order them at the Table and afterwards the more there is of his help in the performance the less will there be of distraction and of your own infirmities USE V. Shall be terrour unto Sinners and Hypocrites all whose attendance upon God is void of care and full of allowed distraction They freely grant their Hearts a liberty and their navghty Hearts take it to be whatever they please and to run upon