time and while he should work and be busie in his Calling sits in an Alehouse or Tavern or runs into ill Company That cares not what Qualifications his Servants have so they will but do his Work and is not at all displeased if they privily slander their Neighbours or turn aside from the holy Commandment deliver'd unto them That either oppresses his Servant with Work and Drudgery or gives him leave to waste much time in doing nothing That allows his Servants no time to perform their duty to their Maker nor incourages them to Prayer by his example and command That gives them liberty to do what they please on the Lord's day and is unconcern'd if they neglect the publick Worship of God or their private Devotion That takes no notice of their thrivings in Grace and cares not what he doth in their presence so his passion and humour be but gratified That gives them bitter language and in stead of reproving of them with meekness and gentleness for their sins and faults reviles them with all possible wrath and bitterness That doth not give them things necessary and convenient for their sustenance and denies them the Wages for which they serve him That doth not faithfully instruct his Covenant-Servant in the Art or Trade he hath promised to instruct him in and hath no tenderness no compassion to such persons in their distress and sickness That thinks much of giving them Bread when they cannot work and of maintaining them when Providence hath disabled them from doing their Masters business 4. If I will exercise my self unto Godliness as a Servant I must be diligent and faithful industrious careful in the Work I am imploy'd in I must advance my Master's Interest and manage his Concerns in his absence with the same honesty that I would do if he were present I must cheerfully run at his Command if not contrary to the Will of God and be ready to do the Errand he sends me upon I must not pick and chuse my Work but do that which he thinks most fit and convenient for me I must not grumble at his order nor be unwilling to go where he sends me I must love him as well as serve him and honour the froward as well as the gentle I must suffer none of his Goods to be embezell'd nor waste the Treasure he hath committed to my charge I must not steal from him what I think he doth not know of nor enrich my self by what he hath farther than he gives me leave and liberty I must not mispend the hours he gives me for my Work nor dissemble with him in things that make for his just interest and advantage I must be tender of his honour and the secrets of the House I am acquainted withal I must not reveal to strangers I must not discover his faults without a lawful call nor tell Stories to the Men that hate him of his actions I must not consort with idle Companions nor let persons come into his House that would either wrong him or do him mischief I must stand up in his Vindication when he is abused and take heed of exaggerating his errours if once they come to be publick I must not tell him a lye if I have committed a fault and am ask'd about it nor stand to justifie or excuse my errour when it will not bear an Apology I must not answer again when I am chid by him much less repay him with ill language if his passion prompts him to speak more than otherwise he would have done I must bear with his infirmities and though he hath his failings yet do him service with fear and trembling I must not despise him because I am better born nor speak therefore dishonourably of him because I understand more than he I must plead Conscience when he would have me do a thing that 's displeasing to God and humbly beg of him not to put me upon that which in the end will be a torment to my Spirit I must endeavour to gain his love and do sometimes more than he commands me to testifie my zeal to do my duty I must listen to the good Lessons he gives me from the Word of God and exhort my fellow-servants to do the like I must be kind to his Children and take care that by my familiar converses with them I do not draw them into any thing that may be prejudicial either to their Souls or Bodies 5. That Man doth not exercise himself unto Godliness as a Husband that loves not his Wife without dissimulation or doth not as much as in him lies promote her spiritual and everlasting welfare that doth not care for dwelling with her nor thinks it his duty to entreat the Light of God's Countenance for her or join in prayer with her That is intemperate in his Wedlock or thinks that the strict alliance between him and her warrants every immodest extravagant and inordinate pleasure and desire or that no Decorum is to be observ'd in that estate That hath no care of her Health Wealth and Credit or loves her more for her Money and Beauty than her Virtue That gives her reproachful language and reproves her not with tenderness and compassion if her errours deserve reprehension That doth not instruct her so far as he is able or doth not help her to bear the burthen of the Family That is a stranger to all pity and cares not what becomes of her so himself can but enjoy health and prosperity whose carriage to her is churlish and his expressions to her dipt in Gall and Vinegar That exposes her natural defects before company and aggravates her neglects which should be qualified with softer constructions That in stead of comforting her slights her and is so far from healing her wounds that he doth what he can to make them wider That doth not allow her convenient Food and Raiment and let 's her want those necessary supplies which the Law of Nations binds him to That doth not protect her when she is in danger nor redeem her from the malice and cruelty of those that use all means to disparage her That doth not trust her with the affairs of the Family if she be able to manage them or conceals from her the things which appertain to their common safety That goes beyond the bounds of the authority God hath given him over her and in stead of being her Head makes himself a Tyrant and her a Slave That doth not yield unto her reasonable requests nor by his good example encourages her to Piety Gravity Charity and Discretion That despises her good counsel and will be sooner perswaded by a stranger or idle Companion than by her that lies in his bosom That laughs at her Devotion and takes pains to make her weary of her seriousness That takes it ill she should obey God more than him and thinks nothing so tedious as her
hard hearts reprobate Minds Because thine Heart was tender and thou didst humble thy self before God and didst rend thy Cloaths and weep before me I have even heard thee also saith the Lord 2 Chron. 34. 27. Self-examination is a Testimony of a tender Heart of a Heart that believes and trembles of a Heart that takes notice of what God saith in his Word and receives it with veneration of a Heart that is sensible that God's Promises and Threatnings will certainly be fulfill'd and accordingly fears and hopes and acts and ventures and follows the Lamb whethersoever he goes 3. That common Argument Men alledge as a discouragement from this Exercise I must use here as a powerful Motive to oblige them to this Self-examination The Devil hinders them and disswades them from it they cry But because he doth disswade you therefore you have reason more vigorously to apply your selves to this Exercise for he would fright you from it but that he sees it will certainly make you leave his Kingdom As some in Nero's time who persecuted the Christians said That the Christian Religion could not but be good and wholesom and excellent because so wicked a man and so great a Monster fought against it So this Self-examination must needs be an excellent thing because the Devil uses so many stratagems to oppose it His business is to ruine Souls as ours is to save them and there must needs be something more than ordinary in this Duty because he throws in so many Impediments and Remora's to put a stop to this advantageous Exercise 4. Happy the Man that is not afraid of judging himself that can look into this Glass and is not ashamed to see his own Deformity nor ashamed to behold what manner of Man he is this is the Man of whom the Son of Man will not be ashamed before God and his holy Angels He that loves to look upon himself shall see and taste how Sweet and Gracious the Lord is O how much safer is it to let our Children I mean our Thoughts and Words and Actions pass through this Fire now than to leave our selves altogether to the Judgment of God in the last day By being our own Judges now we may prevent the severity of the Judge of Quick and Dead in that day By judging our selves every day the strength of our Souls is renew'd our Minds get new light our Affections new encouragements our Hearts new motives and our inward Man new Arguments to shake of the clogs of Sin and of a deceitful World God who cannot Err and can sooner cease to be then do any thing that is amiss yet had no sooner finished any of his Works in the first Creation but examined and considered them immediateately which makes Moses take notice that God saw that it was Good no doubt to shew us an example When the Lord Jesus shall one day appear in Robes of Coelestial Light and sit on the Throne of his Glory and summon the careless World to come to Judgment O how chearfully will the Man that now sits Judge upon his own Actions be able to present himself before that Dread Tribunal His Heart will not suggest to him such fears and terrors as the Man will find who hath not thought this Exercise worth his care He will be able to look upon Christ as his Father as his Friend as his Advocate as his Intercessor as his Mediator that will stand between him and Gods anger his Conscience will bid him take courage and lift up his eyes with joy because his Redemption draws nigh This must needs be so for we are told by the Apostle If we would judge our selves we should not be judged of the Lord 1 Cor. 11. 31. To judge our selves is to walk after the Spirit and to mind the things of the Spirit and we know there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit Rom. 8. 1. when thus we call our selves to an account we act like the Children of God â—â—â—e Children that are afraid of offending their Heavenly Father and if Children then Heirs Heirs of God and Joint Heirs with Christ Rom. 8. 17. And these are the constant daily and standing Exercises which a Man or Woman that names the Name of Christ must necessarily apply themselves to if they will not rest in a form of Godliness and delude their own Souls Christianity is no idle Calling and they that stroak themselves for being Christians and sit with folded Arms and yawn and stretch themselves upon their Couches have learn'd their Divinity of the Devil Work hard is the Christians Motto and there is nothing implies a greater contradiction than Idleness and Christianity Shall any man talk of Ease and Softness that in his Baptism hath vow'd himself to a continual Warfare and engaged himself to fight under the Banner of Jesus The time of rest is to come the present time is designed for Labour and Trouble A Christian must not look for rest here God hath promised him no such thing till he comes to Heaven Nothing in Nature is idle and shall a Christian be the only idle thing in the World I know there is no man but finds some Business or other to divert his Thoughts but in vain Sirs do you talk of Business while the Business of your Souls lies at six and sevens No Worldly Employment deserves the Name of Business in comparison of this we speak of These Exercises are the Business we come into the World for and he is idle that doth not work the work of God Did ever any man hire a day Labourer to see him only Eat lustily or Walk up and down in the House with his Hands in his Pocket And can we be so unreasonable as to think Christ hires us to take our pleasure here when he hath so much work for us to do Day Labourers spend the greatest part of the day about their Masters Work and employ but an hour or so in Eating so must the greatest part of our time be spent in our Great Masters Work and the least in our worldly Business The Work our Master hath to do for us are these Exercises and he that said Go to the Ant thou Sluggard and consider her ways and be wise certainly never intended we should sail on a gentle stream to the Port of Glory Which of the two do we count most useful a Ship that lies still in the Harbor or that which encounters with the Waves and Billows of the Sea the standing Water or the flowing Stream the Iron that lies by or that which we do daily take pains about And which of the two do you think can God favourably look upon the Soul that 's busie and bestirs her self is industrious and laborious to make sure of Heaven or the Soul that lies dissolv'd in Ease and Idleness While David was engaged in a War he had no leisure to defile himself
wretched how odious sin makes us in the sight of God how we are cheated by it how it flatters us into destruction How like a cunning Merchant it sells us trash for Gold pebles for Pearls and drops of Gall for VVine and Milk How bitter it is in its farewel How it hardens the heart sears the Conscience beguiles us of our great Reward represents things to us under false colors How it alienates the Mind from God how averse it makes us from the ways of God What ingratitude it is how destructive it is what hurt it hath done to Sodom to Jerusalem to Cain to Judas to Dives and to innumerable Millions of Men that would take no warning How burthensome it will be to the Soul at last how contrary it is to the Divine Nature how loathsome to Angels how odious to a holy Soul what Tears it hath cost David Peter Paul Mary Magdalene the Publican and others what howling what terrour what anguish what shrieks it will cause in the Burning Lake how easily these terrours may be prevented now by a serious repentance and how much better it is to abandon and undervalue the pleasures and profits of the World now than smart for these transitory delights to all Eternity Such Exercises as these keep the Soul awake and thus rouz'd it cannot be surpriz'd with a Lethargy The foolish Virgins Matth. 25. neglected these Meditations and that made them slumber and sleep Such daily Meditations keep the Soul in a readiness to obey her Great Master's Call in case he should summon her to Judgment These feed and strengthen the Soul as much as Meat and Drink doth the Body and thus supported it grows strong and vigorous and emulates the felicity of Angels Christians Is your Reason a Talent or no If it be not then it is no gift of God if no gift of God why do you thank him why do you praise him for it If it be why should not you give God his own again with Usury If it be a Talent must not you give an account of it in the last day Were you capable of thinking of such things as these and will not your Lord ask you whether you have made that use of your Reason which he intended it for Shall you give an account of your Riches and Honour and Time and Opportunities and Liberty and give no account of your Reason Will it serve turn do you think to say That you have employ'd it about the World Is the World a fit Object to engross so Noble a Faculty Shall the meanest thing which is no more but Dross and Dung in the sight of God employ that Power which is capable of fixing upon the Noblest Being Would you have the Almighty so unwise or weak or improvident as not to demand of you an account of his Goods what you have done with them whether you have traded with them whether you have been active in your Master's Business Your Reason was given you to trade with it for Heaven it was given you to help you to steer your Vessel steddily through the boisterous Sea of this World till you come to the promised Canaan and arrive at the shore of Heaven and will you make no other use of it but think how your lusts may be gratified how your carnal ease may be advanced and how your outward Man may live in mirth and jollity You complain of Ignorance How should you increase in Knowledge if you will not meditate How should your Understanding be enlightned if you will not make use of this Candle How can you but sit in darkness if you refuse this Torch of Heaven By this God would teach you by this he would instruct you by this he would communicate himself to you but if you will not whose fault is it whom can you blame how inexcusable do you make your selves This would clarifie your Souls drive away the Mists and Clouds that dwell upon your Reason but if you love Darkness better than Light no marvel if your Deeds be evil It is with your Souls in this case as it is with your Bodies shut your Eyes and you cannot see so here keep out such Meditations as these and you will not perceive the things of God they 'll be foolishness unto you and you cannot perceive them for they are spiritually discern'd Never complain of want of fervency for the future while you are loath to let in such Meditations into your Minds Fervency does not come from nothing it must have some root some foundation some fewel some action to give it life and being and Meditation is this root and this foundation This is it must warm you This is it must fill your Souls with hallow'd Flames Keep out This and you keep out the Sun shut the Window against these Beams and you will freeze and shake with cold It 's This must make the ways of God easie to you it 's This must make them pleasant sweet and amiable This gives them Charms This strows the way with Pearls and shining Stones which make the Soul enamour'd with it and thus it flies to Heaven IV. Exercise Every day to study Humility an Exercise peremptorily commanded Matth. 18. 3 4. Luk. 14. 7 8. Jam. 4. 6. Learn of me saith the Son of God for I am meek and lowly in heart Matth. 11. 29. Learn of me What Not to raise the Dead not to cleanse the Lepers not to cast out Devils not to give sight to the Blind not to make the Deaf to hear not to cure the Maimed not to walk on the Water not to feed five thousand Men with a few Loaves no but learn of me Humility in this exercise your selves daily And indeed greater Humility hath no Man shewn for being in the Form of God and thinking it no robbery to be equal with God he humbled himself and took upon him the form of a Servant and became obedient to the death of the Cross saith the Apostle Phil. 2. 6 7. This Exercise consists not only in forcing the Body into a submissive posture but working the Mind into very low and humble thoughts of our selves and of our worth and he is a truly humble Man that doth despise himself and is contented to be counted not only humble but vile and wretched too that refers all the honour done to himself unto God and rejoyces in being despised 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and is proud of nothing so much as being ill spoken of and despising praise and glory that compares his sins with the good works of others and upon that account looks upon himself as the chief of sinners and worse than others that affects no applause in what he doth for God or for his Neighbour is contented his defects and infirmities should be known bears Injuries patiently is glad of mean imployments to shew his love to God doth not care for being known puts all things under his feet and looks upon himself as nothing is circumspect
temper and exercises himself unto Godliness when he is alone as well as when he converses with his neighbours nay is more industrious to please his kind and merciful Master when retired from the sight of Men than he ordinarily is when the World looks upon him He is afraid of sin though there be no Magistrate by to overaw him and durst not commit any thing that is offensive to God or injurious to his Neighbour were he in a Desart or in a Denn He doth good cheerfully while none but God looks upon him and is glad he hath an opportunity of doing it in Secret because he would not be so much as suspected to be guilty of Hypocrisie He is as modest in his Closet as in his Dining-room and behaves himself with the same gravity in a Vault that he would do in his Parlour He is sensible no place can escape an All-seeing Eye and that there is no corner so secret but the Father of Lights shines into it He remembers that God will call him to an Account for secret sins as well as for notorious Offences and therefore hath the same veneration for his Holiness when all men are gone from him as he hath when he is surrounded with society He lives in the sense of Gods Omnipresence and whether he is on a Hill or in the Valley God is the same to him The place he knows makes no variation in Gods Purity and wherever the man is God cannot be far from him He pities or smiles at the Sinner that flatters himself that God sees him not because he lurks in a Cave and nothing appears so absurd to him as to fancy that he that made the Eye should not pierce into the remotest corner Indeed not to fear God when we are alone is not to fear him at all and he that shunns undecencies before Men only shews that they are the Gods whom he serves Sobriety before men only is a Sign that nothing but Credit and Interest keeps us in awe and except we dread the very appearance of evil when God alone is with us we are but a better sort of Atheists What doth it signifie to believe a God and to walk as if there were none and to what purpose is it to adore him when his greatness can have no influence upon our Consciences To see in secret is Gods Prerogative and we then deny it when in secret we dare break his Law and affront his Glory He could not be God if he took no notice of our Thoughts and Actions when we are alone and therefore not to fear him when we are in private is to say with the Fool there is none To be delighted with unlawful Objects in our minds while God looks on is as great an irreverence as if a man should spue before a Prince may considering the vast distance between a mortal King and the immortal God infinitely greater and therefore he that stands more in awe of a Prince than of his God doth as good as Blaspheme for it is a tacit assertion That Dust and Ashes deserves greater Honour than the King of Heaven Every Prayer of such a man will be a witness against him in the last day for in every Prayer he acknowledges God's All-seeing Purity and by that acknowledgment condemns himself for not living in private like a man that did profess and believe that Truth He that thinks he fears God when he is careless of his Honour and Omnipresence in secret may as well think he loves his Father and Mother when he calls them all to nought and slights them like dirt under his Shooes and indeed if ever any man was guilty of Hypocrisie such a man that believes God sees him and acts as if his Eyes were shut must be a most notorious dissembler It is a perfect contradiction to believe Gods Omniscience and not to stand in awe of it and the contrariety of the Mind and Actions in this case is so great that did we not judge of Mens Wisdom by their Worldly Prudence we should think such a man rather distracted than impious If the whole World were present with us and the whole race of Mankind were within our view it is not so much as when God is present with us being alone for the Great Creator of all these men is with us He on whose shadow the vast Legions of Angels wait He at whose Name all Creatures bow their knees and whose Hand hath made all things is with us at such times and he that is afraid of the Creature why should not he stand in awe of the Creator Is the Tool a greater thing than the Workman or the Pot of greater consequence than the Potter that did make it and though we see him not with our Eyes yet our minds may perceive and feel him and though he doth not justle us in our walks or rest yet if we be sensible that he is we cannot but be sensible if we will that he is present too It 's not want of Power but want of Will that makes us careless of taking notice of him for we cannot own our common Principles or any Dictates of Nature but we must own his Presence and we had as good deny our own Being as deny his standing by us wherever we are and being displeased with the sins we practice God is every where present that we may always bear his Image in our minds Indeed how can we forget him that doth every moment remember our frame and remember our wants and necessities and doth not forget our work and labour of Love What a mighty favour do we count it if a King doth think of us or admits us into his Presence and shall not we think it a wonderful mercy that the King of Glory the everlasting Father the Prince of Peace is never absent from us and is pleased always to take notice of us The sick man receives Comfort if a friend do visit him and should not our Souls rejoyce our weak our sinful Souls that God doth always look upon them and takes their concerns into consideration If a Prince vouchsafe a favourable look to a Servant he thinks himself happy and shall not we count our selves so when our God never turns away his Eyes from us Behold how the vulgar run to see a King pass by Our God not only passes by us but this mighty God remains with us always every moment encircles us with the beams of his-Majesty and shall not we stand amazed at his Brightness Nay look how men hasten to see a Monster some unkown African Beast and shall not our hearts leap to think that an incomprehensible Beauty is continually about us The Queen of Sheba comes from afar to behold the Jewish King in his Glory and when she sees him wonders we every day behold a far greater and far more splendid Monarch and do we make nothing of it How shall not we work to do him service that works all our Blessings for
Lust and sinful Concupiscence must die and all irrational Passions must expire This makes the Herb of Grace culminate and spread its wholsome Leaves This makes the Art of Praying easie and draws forth streams of Tears By neglect of this Sense the World was lost and by this Sense the World must be recover'd Eve though she had the understanding of an Angel yet at that time when she eat the forbidden Fruit she look'd not upon that God that bid her shun the Tree and so she fell By looking on God wherever we are we enter into a Tower which Enemies may besiege but cannot take or batter In a word the most effectual means either to obtain or keep or recover the Grace of God is this Sense of Gods Omnipresence This is a Lanthorn to our Feet and a Light unto our Paths and like Fire thrown into a hedge of Reeds burns up the evil Thoughts that do annoy us so that the Man in Pelagius was certainly in the right whose Motto it was that looking upon God in all places and all Companies and remembring his Presence is as necessary as our breath or the Blood that Circulates in our Veins XIII Exercise To do all things to God's Glory An Exercise commanded 1 Cor. 10 31. Coloss. 3. 17. Ephes. 5. 20. 1 Thess. 5. 18. When I say all things I totally exclude all Sinful Actions for no man can intentionally commit Sin to God's Glory God indeed will glorifie his Justice one day in the Sinners Condemnation and the perverse Transgressor who will not Glorifie God now as God shall hear the Saints one day Admire and Adore him for his Just Proceedings against obstinate Offenders and God many times from a Great Sinner makes an Admirable Convert but this doth not justifie a Mans Sinning to Gods Glory He that sins sins to God's dishonour and the man that transgresses his Commands seeks to bring a disparagement on the most spotless Being But by all things I mean all Actions that have a Natural or Moral Goodness in them and this Exercise consists 1. In giving Thanks for every Blessing we enjoy 2. In doing all things whether Civil or Religious with a good and holy design or with an intent to promote God's Glory 1. In giving Thanks for every Blessing we enjoy He that is not sensible of the great necessity of this Exercise hath never heard of what Moses David St. Paul and the whole Army of Saints have done and he that knows not what it means hath certainly forgot that God is his Creator and he his Creature Not to give God thanks for the Blessings we possess is to be a Beast nay worse then a Beast for the very Dragons Praise God in their kind as we read Psalm 148. 7. And yet to thank him without consideration of what we do adds nothing to our happiness no more then a Parrot repeating some words out of a Psalm makes him any whit the more Rational To give God thanks requires attention of the Mind and the Man that Praises him must seriously break forth into Astonishments at his Goodness To say I Thank God and not to feel what I say is an argument of Carelessness and there cannot be a greater sign of Stupidity then to Commend his Goodness and not to mind what I mean by the Expression It is a sense of mine own unworthiness must force those Praises from me and a foresight of my own demerit oblige me to high and noble thoughts of my great Benefactor Every Blessing must lift up my heart to Heaven and every Mercy I receive must make my Soul adore the hand that sent it If my Lips be only employed in the Exercise I offer indeed the Calves of my Lips but continue a stranger to that Living Sacrifice I am to bring which is my reasonable Service Not to Praise God for his Blessings with admiration of his Bounty is as bad as to be dumb in his Celebrations and there is little difference between him that says nothing and him that speaks like a Man unconcern'd He that in his Blessings reflects only on the Second Causes whereby it was procured robs God of his honor and to ascribe any Mercy to mine own Wisdom or Industry or Friends is no less then Sacriledge Nay if I spend the Blessing which was given me to do good with upon mine own Lust I am perfidious and if in stead of putting it to those uses for which God designed it I make it serve me in my sins I am so unfaithful a Steward that I am not fit to be received into Everlasting Habitations I must see God in every Blessing and take notice of his Gracious Providence in the Dispensation I must not feed on it as Beasts upon Grass without regard to him that made it grow and indeed I cannot put a greater affront in this case upon the Almighty then by not considering the operations of his hand Every Blessing hath the stamp of God upon it It bears his Image and Superscription and therefore it is injurious not to give to God the things that are Gods To prize the various Blessings of God I must consider and take notice how my wants and necessities are supplied and when I see wherein I do excell others I cannot possibly want matter of sutable Gratitude But Secondly The greater part of the Exercise is yet behind and that is To do all things whether Civil or Religious with a good and holy design and with an intent to promote God's Glory This is a Work which few do mind and even many of those that seem to do more then others are defective in this Duty I do not deny but that a Man may lawfully have two ends in every action a Spiritual and a Temporal but the Spiritual end must be my chief end and that which must be the Principal Motive to such a work must be a prospect of doing good or being serviceable to Gods Glory I must Preach and Pray and Sing Psalms to Gods Glory and Drink and Eate and lie down and Sleep and Visit and Discourse and follow the Works of my Lawful Calling to Gods Glory When I Eate and Drink I must not do it to please my Appetite so much as to be more serviceable to my Master in Heaven When I Visit I must have a design of Edification in it and must resolve to drop some Savoury Discourse in the place I go to When I am going to take my rest it must not be with an intent meerly to Sleep and to refresh my Body but chiefly with an intent to be the better able to do my Masters Work When I enter upon the Works of my Calling my design must be more to please God and to obey his Will then to provide for the ease and satisfaction of my Flesh When I rise in the Morning I must rise with an intent to spend that day for Eternity and whatever I do I must do it more to please God then to please my self But
every Lesson that 's deliver'd in publick and when they hear Sinners reprov'd and condemn'd cry with the Disciples of our Lord Master is it I But our Business for the most part being with men who like wanton Children will scarce eat the Meat that 's cut for them and are so choak'd with the Cares and Riches and Enjoyments of this World that the loudest Thunders of God make no impression on them and fancy because they are not particularly named in the Bible that therefore the Commands there given do not belong to them we are forced to make the way they are to walk in as easie as we can remove the Stones out of it and tell them every step of the way in hopes that all these pains may work upon their good Nature and oblige them to break loose from the Kingdom of Sin and Darkness And therefore 1. If the Actions and Motions of our outward and inward man be made the Rule of this Daily Self-examination the particular questions that must be proposed to our Hearts at night must be such as these To begin with the Senses As for the Ear Have not I this day heard some ill immodest unsavoury Expressions used by others and hath it been a grief to me hath it been a trouble to my Soul to think that my God was abused and dishonoured by it Have not my Ears been open to corrupt and vain communications Have not I been tickled with some obscene or filthy Story I have heard Have I heard my Neighbour reviled or ill spoken of and have I done the duty of a Friend and justified his innocent Behaviour Have I heard this day of any undecent deportment of any of my Family and have I reproved them for it or admonished them to amendment of life Have not I been pleased with the Commendations I have heard men pass upon me and hath not their applause tempted me to vain-glory Have I heard of losses I have had with Patience Have I heard a man speak disgracefully of me without being enraged at the Calumny Have I heard men entice me to sin and have I abhorred the invitation Have I heard men Swear and Curse and have I been concern'd at the greatness of their Sin On the Lords day especially Have I heard the Word this day with seriousness Did I come to Hear with Resolutions to Practice what I heard Was my Heart affected with the happy Message of Grace and Pardon Was not I more taken with the Ministers delivery than the great things he spoke of Was it custom that obliged me to go and hear or was it a fervent desire to be edified and built up in my most holy Faith Do I feel in my self any Purposes at this present to do as I have been advised to day Did I prepare my self for hearing the Word by suitable Thoughts and Contemplations of that awful Majesty before whom I was to appear Did I feel any heat in my Hearing which was ready to consume the Straw and Stubble of my carnal Affections Did I find any sweetness in the Word of God I heard to day Was my heart ravisht when I heard the joyful news of Christs Redemption to day Was my Soul affected with the love of God when I heard it described to day at the Receiving of the Holy Sacrament Have I done my duty at home Have I made my Servants and Children hear what the Lord their God requires at their hands As for the Eye Have I this day lifted up mine Eyes to Heaven and taken notice of Gods Providences Have not I fed mine Eyes with some unlawful Spectacle Have not I seen men sin and laught at it Have not I beheld immodest Actions and been delighted with them Hath not the sight of such a Vanity transported me into admiration of it Have I read a Portion of the Holy Scriptures to day and remembred to apply the things I read of to mine own Conscience Have I been enflamed with the goodness of the men I have read of Have the Duties and Precepts I have read caused in me a willingness to perform them Have I beheld the Finger of God in the Blessings I have received to day Have I taken notice of Gods goodness to me and mine and stood amazed at it Have I look'd upon the Works of God to day upon Trees and Herbs and Flowers and admired the Wisdom Glory and Bounty of God As for the Tongue and Lips Have I wilfully spoke evil of no man to day Have not I rendred Railing for Railing and Threatning for Threatning Have I been careful to drop something of God in the company I have been in Did not I Eat and Drink to day more to please my Appetite then to repair the decay'd strength of my nature that I might be more serviceable to God and my Neighbour Did I take occasion to speak of something that 's good at my Table And when I craved a Blessing was not my mind more intent upon the Meat before me than on the Great God above me Have not I been intemperate to day Did not I Eat and Drink more than Nature required Have I Pray'd with my Family to day and did that Prayer proceed from an humble sense of our Spiritual Wants and Necessities Have not I said something whereby my Neighbour might suffer in his Credit and Reputation Have I dropt never a Lye in my Shop or Trade or in company either in Jest or for some Advantage or to please Men Have not I rashly made or falsly broke a Promise Have I in my Addresses and Answers shew'd all Meekness unto all Men Have not I talk'd Surly or Proudly to a Man because he was Poor Have not I disdain'd to speak to him because he went in Rags Have I avoided foolish Talk and when I have been tempted to break a Jest which was either Smutty or might be some way prejudicial to my Neighbour have I suppressed it and been more ambitious of being Grave and Modest than of the Reputation of being Witty As for the Hands and Feet whereby the Scripture usually expresses Mans actions Have I been diligent in the Duties of my Calling to day Have I defrauded no Man deceived no Man Have I dealt uprightly and honestly with all Men Have I shunn'd that company which I was afraid would draw me into Sin Have not I complyed with some sinful Action of the Company I have been in Have I some way or other shewn my abhorreney and detestation of their Sins Have I really endeavour'd more to please God than Men What good have I done to day Have not I taken more pains and care to dress my Body than I have done to beautifie my Soul Have not I been more curious about my Cloaths than about my Graces Have not I been more careful to make my Face pleasing to Spectators than I have been to approve my self to God Have not I lost somewhat of the Life of Religion by going into such Society Have not I spent
place where Wickedness and Malice must never look in where Want and Poverty must for ever cease where Quarrelling and Accusing and Impleading one another will all have done where all Violence and Discord dies and all Grief and Pain and Anguish is swallow'd up in an Eternal Jubilee We read of Men as of Diocletian of Spartacus of Aeneas of Rustan of Mahomet that from Shepheards and mean Men have come to be great Lords and Emperors but this is nothing to the happiness that he can be confident of that seriously exercises himself in the Task I have laid down the time will come I see the joyful day approaching I see it by the Eyes of Faith when this humble Soul this laborious Saint this Self-denying Christian this contemptible Man shall change his Rags into Purple Robes and be translated from a momentary Sorrow to an Eternity of Rest and Satisfaction where the Lamb that is in the mid'st of the Throne shall feed him and shall lead him unto living Fountains of Waters and God shall wipe all Tears from his Eyes Then shall be fulfilled the saying that is written they that Sow in Tears shall Reap in Joy he that goeth forth and Weepeth bearing pretious Seed shall doubtless come again with rejoicing bringing his Sheaves with him While young Hercules saith the Apologue was doubting within himself which way he should take whether that of Vice or the other of Virtue behold there appeared to him two Women one gloriously apparell'd with tempting Looks and gay Attire and a flowing Mantle that wanton'd in the Air promising him present satisfaction and whatever his sensual Appetite could desire but saying nothing of what would be the exit or consequence of all this the other stood aloof with a meager Face in a ragged Garb and torn Cloaths promising nothing but Sweat and Labour and danger at first but behind her was a Scene of Triumph and at the end of her Swords and Daggers hung Pearls and Rubies and the richest Stones The valiant man soon smelt out the Cheat of the former and resolutely chose to become a Disciple of the other Thus acts the Man that exercises himself unto Godliness he slights Pleasure and embraces Labour for he knows that bitter beginnings will have a glorious end and as Jason fought his way through Serpents and Wild Bulls to get the Golden Fleece and became Master of it so he swims contentedly through a Sea of Wormwood to find a new World of sweetness and satisfaction and the years during which he serves for this Rachel seem to him but as so many days for he loves what he sees not and believes what he cannot grasp yet believing he rejoices with joy unspeakable and full of Glory Hitherto I have discoursed of the ordinary constant and daily Exercises of a Christian. The extraordinary follow in order and they are 1. Vowing 2. Fasting 3. Watching and 4. Self-Revenge I call them Extraordinary because they are to be used but now and then when either some great corruption is to be subdued or our Devotion wants quickning or when God's Glory requires it or when our Neighbours welfare and edification is to be signally promoted To make these Exercises daily and constant were the way to ruine the body and to obstruct the Soul in her flights to heaven and instead of honouring God to render our selves incapable of his Service They are in the nature of Salt and Vinegar to give a rellish to our Spiritual Food but they would be but ill Meat were they made our Dyet Some that have attempted to make them their daily Employment have exposed themselves to the Devils Tyranny and by going farther than God design'd or requir'd have been suffer'd to fall into unspeakable inconveniences That using severities upon our selves is sometimes necessary is evident from hence because our Bodies naturally are enemies to our Souls and nothing is so great a clog to our Spirits as our sensual Appetite The more the Body is denied the freer is the Soul in her Motions and the less the Flesh is reguarded the more the Spirit soares and mounts up to its Center It is certainly our indulging our carnal ease so much that makes us dull and lazie in God's Service and had we the art of crossing Flesh and Blood our Duties would be perform'd with greater life and fervency But here the Golden mean must be used and to avoid extremes is without doubt the safest way we can walk in As a man by a total neglect of these Exercises will make but a very slow progress in Religion so he that uses them too much may fall into divers Snares and Temptations Discretion must be the Rule and Prudence the Guide in things of this nature Those that want this compass must suffer themselves to be entirely guided by wiser Men and Laymen whose occasions will not permit them to consider of every step of the way must here resign themselves to the guidance and conduct of serious and able Ministers who if they have any sense of the power of Godliness will be ready to rejoice at the Work and readily direct them that they may get safe to Heaven I do not deny but that these Exercises have been and are abused in the Church of Rome but shall their perverting the Primitive Institution make us regardless of the Duty and because they go beyond the just bounds of these Severities must they therefore be quite laid aside and despised as useless Whoever rejected Wine because Men make themselves drunk with it Or did ever any man forswear eating Meat because the Glutton eats till he makes himself sick with it I shall speak distinctly of these Extraordinary Exercises and in each of them lay down certain Rules that must be observed in the practice to free them from the brand of Will-worship Superstition or sinful voluntary Humility I. Extraordinary Exercise And this is Making Vows An Exercise used and practised by the Saints before the Law Gen. 28. 20. under the Law Psal. 116. 14. 18. and under the Gospel Act. 18. 18. Act. 21. 23. 24. and commanded Psal. 76. 11. That a Vow is a deliberate voluntary solemn Promise made to Almighty God of things Lawful and Possible is so known a thing that I need not insist much upon the definition Every purpose is no Vow nor is a bare intention to do such a thing to be reckoned among these greater obligations of the Soul A Vow made in drink is a Sin but no Vow because a Vow requires the presence of Reason and deliberation and the same may be said of a Vow made in the heighth of Anger and Passion To oblige my self by a Vow to do a thing that is forbid by the Law of God is Impiety or to Vow a thing which lies not in my power to perform is Folly and Distraction Not to repent of such Vows is to continue in Sin and the longer the repentance is deferred the more we aggravate our condemnation Of
back who had laid down their Imployments upon the account of Conscience and chose them for his Friends and Banished the other that had consented to his Unjust Decree saying That Men who were not true to their God could never be true to their Prince And the same may be said of these Violations of Solemn Promises made to the Allmighty Men that can deal so unworthily with him How should they deal honestly with their Neighbors So that in breaking our Vows we Cancel that Obligation which must make us honest in our Dealings and should all Men do so Humane Societies would soon come to an end and all things drop into disorder and confusion 6. How can God believe us after such violations of our Vows in case afterward we come to stand in need of his help and to move him to pity fall a Promising again How justly may God Answer as he did the Israelites in a case much like it Goe and cry to the Gods whom you have serv'd for I will deliver you no more Judg. 10. 13 14. How justly may God reply upon this occasion you shall Cheat me you shall Cozen me you shall Impose upon me no more How should I believe your promises now that have falsified your Word already This many a Man hath found and having basely violated his Vows when afterwards he hath come to lye upon his Death-Bed and cry'd out for mercy God hath stopt his Ears and said When you stretch forth your hands I will hide mine eyes and when you make many Prayers I will not hear you for your hands are full of Blood as he said to the Jews Es. 1. 15. It is said of Esau Heb. 12. 17. That he sought the Inheritance of his Brothers Blessing carefully with Tears but found no place of Repentance i. e. With all his Tears and Prayers he could not make his Aged Father undo what he had done or take away the Blessing from him to whom he had already imparted it and truly after such violations of our Vows we have reason to fear that God will deny us that Grace we beg for in the time of our Extremity or that we shall be given up to a Hard Heart and Reprobate Mind for making so light of Gods Purity and Holiness we may justly fear that God will not set much by our Prayers and Supplications when we come to stand in need of his Gracious Looks and Influences I could add here that a person that breaks his Vows or makes no Conscience of keeping them knows not where he shall stop in Sin for no Sin after this can come amiss to him he is prepared for every Evil Work for Murther Adultery Deceit and all other Wickedness and is now ready to do any thing the Devil bids him But what hath been said shall suffice I conclude this Point with St. Austin's words in his Epistle to Paulinus Having once Vow'd thou art no more thine own Master and thou darest not do otherwise if thou do not what thou hast Promised thou art infinitely worse then thou wert before thou didst Vow Thou hadst not then been worse but only less holy but if thou break'st thy Word with God thou art more wretched and miserable and therefore how much happier wilt thou be if thou performest it II. Extraordinary Exercise Fasting An Exercise commanded and recommended Joel 2. 15. Mat. 6. 16 17 18 19. Luc. 2. 37. Act. 13. 2. 1 Cor. 7. 5. By Fasting I mean either a Total Abstinence from Meat and Drink or where Nature is not able to bear it an Abstinence from all pleasant Food or Palatable Meat and Drink for both these fall under the notion of Fasting as we see Jon. 3. 5 7. Dan. 10. 3. And the end of this Abstinence must be Sequestring our Thoughts from the World or dedicating our selves to God which makes it a Religious Fast And a Fast that God hath chosen and an Exercise unto Godliness without this qualification Fasting comes not within the compass of Religious Exercises and he that Fasts to cure a Surfeit or to get himself a better Stomach or because the Physitian and his Constitution requires it doth God no Service by it but only gratifies himself Fasts are commonly distinguished into Publick and Private and as the Publick are Commanded and Ordered either by the Civil Magistrate or the Governor of the Church either to prevent a Publick Judgment or to remove it if it be already come or to keep up the Memory of some Dreadful Calamity that hath formerly oppressed a People so a private is Instituted and Managed either by Masters of Families or by private Christians to quicken themselves in Duty And these private Fasts are the things that I shall chiefly press and insist upon not but that a Christian is obliged cheerfully to embrace the Opportunity of Publick Humiliations but they being order'd but seldom his Religious Concerns lay a Necessity upon him to use this Exercise more frequently in the place where he dwels or sojourns Nor is this a New Exercise we charge upon you but such a one as the Church of God hath in all Ages made use of to obtain God's Favor and the Light of his Countenance The Jewish Church after that Moses had led the way in Fasting Forty days and forty nights soon learn'd to keep days of Abstinence upon the Account of Devotion Indeed God himself shew'd them the necessity of this Exercise when Rev. 16. 29. he gave them order to Afflict their Souls i. e. to Fast on the Tenth day of the Seventh Month or September by a Statute for ever This was the Great Day of Expiation and they not only abstained from Meat Drink Ornaments Curious Dresses and all manner of Pleasures but went Bare-foot Confessed their Sins Bewailed them and Cry'd mightily unto God to be Merciful to them for His Names sake or for the Messias sake who was to come and expiate their Sins by his own Blood But here they did not rest and God having once acquainted them that he was delighted with such Humiliations and Abasements if rightly managed they began now to make use of them upon all occasions when any Signal Calamity Invaded the Land as appears from the Proclamation of King Jehoshaphat 2 Chron. 20. 3. and by what Esther did by the advice of Mordecai Esther 4. 16. and we may suppose private Men when any Pressures or Miseries threatned them did the like Not long after when God thought fit to pour out his Wrath upon Jerusalem and the Inhabitants thereof and the Goodly Temple was destroy'd and burnt down to the ground the Jews thought themselves obliged to make more frequent use of this Exercise and accordingly they Instituted Four Solemn Anniversary Fasts The First they appointed to be in the Fourth Month or in June in memory of the Breach made in the Wall of the City of Jerusalem by the Chaldaean Army Jer. 52. 2. The Second in the Fifth Month or in July in memory of the
more active will the Spirit be and I think I may lay it down for a Maxim that the greatest Revelations and Inspirations have been vouchsafed to Men that have been most given to Abstinence Of Anna the Prophetess it is particularly said that she served God with Fasting much Luke 2. 37. Not that I would encourage men to aim at extraordinary Visions and Revelations in their Fasts but so much I dare promise them that by frequent Religious Fasts they may obtain great assistances of God's Spirit to subdue their corruptions and to do great things for God and to arrive to more than ordinary content and satisfaction And this calls me to another observation 12. That these Fasts if the Soul shall receive any great good by them as I hinted before must be frequent Once a year or once in half a year to deny our selves in Meat drink upon the account of devotion is may be to do more han profane persons but not to do more than hypocrites it is the frequency of study makes men Scholars and the frequency of speaking makes men Masters of a Language Frequent touching of the Strings makes a man a good Lutenist as frequent working at a Trade makes a man an excellent Artificer so he that repeats this Exercise often will not only get a facility in the performance but his Soul will signally thrive by it supposing still that the days be spent as I have directed and though we cannot lay down a certain Rule for all men because their Constitutions and employments are different yet I should think that once a month at least any private Christian might keep a solemn Fast to obtain mercy and find Grace to help in the time of need Those who have more time may take the first Christians for their pattern and exercise themselves either once or twice a week in such Abstinence The Scripture hath not given us any particular instructions about it because God would have such Exercises come freely from us without constraint and then they become Golden Viols full of odours as S t John speaks Rev. 5. 8. 13. When we fast thus our care must be not to despise others that do not Every man stands and falls to his own Master and I that know not anothers Reasons why he neglects such Exercises must not therefore judge him as profane I must still consider that I have more need of such Self-denials than other men and though they do not for the present apply themselves to these stricter Rules of living God will in time acquaint them with their duty I know my own wants and necessities best and my first care must be to save mine own Soul As other mens neglects must be no examples to me so neither if they do not do what I do must I cry Stand off for I am holier than thou art This may befit a Pharisee but doth not become a Christian and whatever effects Grace produces in the Soul to be sure contempt of others is no Fruit of that Tree 14. Those that are under the yoak as Servants or Apprentices and are desirous of this Exercise must take such days as their Masters and Superiours will allow or when they can be best spared from their work and employment and if it be replied that they have no other days but Sundays and Holidays I answer that there is no place of Scripture that forbids turning the Lords Day or other Festivals in case of necessity into days of humiliation especially where the severity of Masters and Mistresses is such that they will neither enter into Gods Kingdom themselves nor suffer those that will to enter The Eastern Church heretofore made it a crime to fast on Saturday or on the Sabbath day except the great Saturday before Easter yet the Western Church ventured it and what was a Festival in the East was a Humiliation day in the West and no doubt they had their different reasons for it as the Eastern Church made it a Festival to oppose the Heresie of Marcion who fasted that day so the Western made it a day of Humiliation because the Disciples of our Lord were overwhelmed with grief and sorrow that day for the loss of their Master This passage I mention on purpose to shew that though the Lords day and other Holidays be Festivals yet it hath not been unusual to change Festivals into fasting days and consequently a person that is under such Bondage may no doubt lawfully spend them in such mortifying Exercises because he hath no other days to employ in such Devotions 15. They that are Masters of their time and have liberty to choose what days they think fit for this Exercise may do well to pitch on such days when together with their private devotions they may have opportunities to hear a Sermon or to be present at the publick Prayers of the Church For these publick Devotions keep the private warm and as one hand washes the other so the private fits the Soul for the publick and the publick makes her return with greater appetite to her private Confessions and Orisons On such days when our private Devotions are on the wing and our hearts hot within us we are the fitter to join with our follow Christians in publick and may contribute to the hearing of their Prayers for since the exaudition of Prayer depends much upon the fervour of it Abstinence as I said before being a great means to give heat and fire to our Prayers we may on such days by our addresses to God in publick as well as private signally promote not only our own but also our Neighbours welfare and happiness 16. When at night we break our Fast it 's fit and convenient we should be very moderate in eating and drinking least with the severities of the day we forget our resolutions of better obedience too He that hath fasted all day and gluts himself again at night seems to be glad that the devotion is over and to take greater delight in his corporal than spiritual Food and Nourishment The serious frame of spirit we have been in all day must be preserv'd at night and sure I am that feeding our selves to the full at such times will very much debilitate and weaken the noble sense we had all day and therefore a courser diet than ordinary is fittest at night when we have been with God all day It keeps in the holy fire and helps to maintain the serious thoughts we have had for the courser the Meat or Food is the less palatable will it be and the less palatable the less delight a man will take in 't and the less delight he takes in it the more he 'll reflect on the sad truths that have been in his mind all day To this purpose I remember a passage in Procopius concerning Justinian the Emperor The week before Easter saith he he fasted every day and led a very severe life such as meaner men would scarce have endured All the
taken notice of his former austerities and saw him laughing and merry with his Brethren that came to see him and was scandalized at it Bend thy Bow saith he he did so Bend it more he obey'd him Bend it yet more No answered the Huntsman then it will break Just so saith he is it with these severities too much of them spoils all but the moderate use of them may preserve both Soul and Body to Eternity I do not believe it was possible without a Miracle for Besarion to stand forty nights in a Hedge of Thorns that continually prick'd him though some do confidently report it and if he did so I do not see of what use his Body could be to his Soul after such Torments Nor do I know what to say to that man in Dionysius that being at Prayer and a Scorpion biting him and shedding Poison into his Foot insomuch that it swell'd immediately pain'd him exceedingly and convey'd the infection to his very Heart yet would not move from his place nor take care to resist the noxious Animal till he had done his Prayer for though he was restored to his former Health by the Prayer of Pachomius yet no rational Man can think well of such severities where men may prevent their death and will not and I know not whether it be not tempting of God rather than trusting him where he hath put the means to save our lives into our hands and we neglect them Nor VI. Must the stress of Repentance be laid on these severities This I have already touch'd upon and I cannot but mention it again because without great care and watchfulness men are apt to be deluded by the Devil into misconstruction of this Exercise as if God were more pleased with this Exercise than with the Repentance Men may possibly be pleased with these outward Austerities more than with inward Reformation but God who sees further cannot His piercing eye looks through the Bowels and if the Root be sound loves all the Branches that spring from it if the Foundation be good casts a favourable Eye on all the Ornaments of the Structure This Root this Foundation is a sincere Repentance or a Heart enamour'd with the Beauty of Holiness If this Rod buds and blossoms and bears such Fruit it is accepted in Christ Jesus without a contrite Heart severities are but a deceitful Bush whereby Men are deceived into a good opinion that there is excellent Wine to be found in the House but find nothing but Gall and Vinegar a stately Gate to a Swine-stye and paint laid on upon a homely Face which makes the Mortification ridiculous And therefore VII These severities must be only demonstrations of the sincerity of our Repentance when they are used they must be used to convince our selves and others that we do in good earnest abhor the sins we have been guilty of When our Hearts grieve for the provocations we have given to the Almighty and temptations come in and our frighted Consciences would make us believe that our sorrow is but counterfeit there is no better way to dash and beat back the despaining suggestion than by offering some violence to our Bodies for being naturally lovers of ease and softness when we can thus deny our selves and can be reveng'd for our sins upon our selves we give very good evidence that what we profess is 〈◊〉 and that our Tears are flowing from a Heart sensible of the Majesty and Purity of the Great Creator And this was the reason why the noble 〈◊〉 repenting of her being married to another Husband while the former from whom she had been divorced was living came into the Church with her Haiâ— dishevelâ—d with her Hands and Neck and Lips all diâ—ty and bemired with lying in Dust and Ashes for some time and for this S t Jerome commends her highly because hereby she discover'd the reality and sincerity or her Repentance VIII These severities are of great use in our endeavours to despise the World and to lead a truly Spiritual Life Indeed our love of the World hath need of 〈◊〉 coâ—â—osives It 's a Distemper which is 〈◊〉 to be dispell'd by flatrery 〈◊〉 is it cured by a few angry words such as Eli gave his two Sons Hophni and Phinees Without it be corrected and and lash d the Weed will over-run the Ground and endanger the Soul even in the mid'st of ordinary devotion The Body is ever a Bosome-friend to this love of the World and therefore if the Body be proceeded against with harshness this love feels the smart and begins to abate in its Grandeur and Loftiness The Body being put to pain it 's satisfaction faint and it begins to lower it's Top-sails and to dwindle away into nothing such Mustard being laid on these Breasts the Child soon gets an aversion from sucking them and this bitternes drives the Soul to seek for sweeter Object in Heaven And upon this account it was that Sylvanus the Bishop of Philippoâ—olis went always in Sandaâ—s made of Hay even in the City of Constantinople and the Rural Bishops in the Diocess of Rome denied themselves of all Wordly Rotinue and Splendour while those of Rome lived in all the Pomp and Bravery the World could afford IX Either to subdue a corruption or to prevent yielding to a sin these severities may be very helpful Such severities fright away the corruption and make Satan himself stand amazed at what we are going to do Seeing the love of God so strong in us that for his sake we can put our selves to great inconveniencies he departs and finding that Gods favour is dearer to us than our ease and interest his next conclusion is that he must find out other Subjects to impose and Work upon When Hilarion applied himself to the subduing of his Lusts he spake to his Body Come thou Beast I will not feed thee with Barley but with Chaff I 'll so order thee that thou shalt not kick I 'll subdue thee with the hunger and thirst I 'll lay Weights upon thee I 'll afflict thee by Heats and Colds that thou shalt long for Victuals more than for Lustful Objects And so he did labouring hard when the Sun shin'd hottest and praying and singing all the while he was at Work and thus he became Master of his Passions In the same manner Zenon travelling one day through Palaestina and seeing a Bed of excellent Cucumbers a Fruit he naturally loved and finding temptations in his Breast to steal some from the Owner it came into his Mind that Thieves when taken by the Magistrate are usually tormented I must therefore saith he try whether I can endure Torments before I steal and accordingly he laid this punishment upon himself for coveting another mans Goods and stood five days in the Sun frying his Body in the intolerable heat and being able to endure it no longer I see saith he I must not steal for I cannot endure Torments and so he passed on
Needy which formerly they used to express to their own Children Here you should see none Rejoycing that he had any thing of his own for whatever he had he look'd upon his Fellow-Christians as Co-heirs and was so well contented that they should inherit with him that he thought that which he had a Burthen if his Neighbours were not to share in his Possessions This present Life was the least thing they minded while that to come engrossed their Thoughts and Considerations They were so entirely Christians that in a manner they were nothing else and cared not for being any thing else lest if they should be something else they should be suspected of deviating from their Masters foot-steps Hence it was that the Pagans accused them of Unrighteousness and Unprofitableness as if they were dead Weights in the World contributing nothing to the welfare and prosperity of Mankind and as if they stood for Cyphers in Humane Societies though none were more ready to communicate of the Profit of their Labours to others than they and did therefore on purpose keep close to their Calling and Profession that they might be able to relieve the Needy And though they were loath to take upon them the Employment of Magistrates and Governors lest the Emperors and Gods Commands should clash and they lye under a temptation of obeying Man more than God yet whenever they were thought worthy to bear Office in the Church they readily embraced the Charge that they might be in a greater capacity to improve the Talents God had given them to his Glory and his Peoples good and were pleased with the Trouble of the Office that the World might see they had no design of Gain or Worldly Interest in the Administration They spake little but their Thoughts were always Great and Heavenly and as they look'd upon sublunary Objects as too mean for their lofty Minds to rest on so their care was to keep the Eyes of their Understandings fix'd on that World which fades not away In the eye of the World they were Pythagoreans and a kind of Dumb-Men but when they met one with the other and CHRIST was named perfect Peripateticks and no Philosophers would be freer in their Discourses than they Their business was to live not to talk great Matters and the name Christian did so charm them that though there were various degrees of Men among them Ecclesiasticks Lay-men Virgins Widows Married Persons Confessors Martyrs and Friends yet the name Christian swallowed up all and in this they triumph'd beyond all other Titles in the World which made Attalus in Eusebius when the Governor ask'd him what Countryman he was who his Father and Mother were what Trade Profession and Employment he was of whether he was Rich or Poor give no other answer but this That he was a Christian. And the same did the excellent Blandina And by this answer they gave the World to understand that their Kindred Pedigree Nobility Trade Profession Blood c. did all consist in this one Thing and that beyond this there could be no greater Honour and Dignity Their Communications or Answers in common Discourse were Yea Yea and Nay Nay An Oath they shunn'd as much as Perjury and a Lye among them was more rare than a Sea-monster is to the Inhabitants of a Continent for they said that in their Baptism they were Signed with the Mark of Truth and that they could not be Servants of the God of Truth if they should yield but to the least appearance of Falshood Christ was the charming Word among them and they heard nothing with greater joy than that glorious Name His Death and Sufferings raised their Souls and his Cross was more Pretious to them than Rubies Hereby they learned to despise the World and the Marrow Virtue and Efficacy of their Religion was the Death of JESUS This Death they remembred not only in the Sacrament but at their common Meals and when they refreshed their Bodies with Meat and Drink they talked of that Meat which would feed them into Everlasting Life and herein they walked contrary to the custom of the Drunkards of old who used to carry a Death's Head with them to their drunken Meetings and set it upon the Table and with the sight of that and remembrance of what they must shortly come to encouraged themselves in Drunkenness The first Christians remembred indeed the Death of Christ at their ordinary Tables but it was to make Pain and Torment and Death and the Cross familiar to them for the Afflictions of this Life they looked upon as the Midwives that promoted their new Birth and the best Companions of their Faith and the faithfullest Nurses of their Hopes In the Cities and Towns where they lived none was unknown to the other for they Pray'd together heard the Word together met frequently at Meals together and were continually helpful one to the other Infomuch that where-ever they met they knew one another and when they durst not with their Lips yet with their Eyes and Gestures they would salute one another send Kisses of Peace one to another rejoice in the common Hope and if permitted assist one another in Adversities This is one of us saith such a Saint for we have seen him in our Oratories we have Pray'd with him we have been at the Lords Table together we have heard the Scriptures read together we have kneeled together we have been instructed together O happy Kindred which comes by Prayer and Communion of the Body and Blood of JESUS O blessed Relations where Men are not called Brothers of the Sun or of the Stars as the antient Tyrants styled themselves but Brethren of CHRIST Children of GOD and Citizens of Heaven When a Christian who was a Stranger came to them before ever he shew'd his Testimonials they knew him by his lean Visage and meager Face which his frequent Fasting had brought him to by the Modesty of his Eyes by the Gravity of his Speech by his Gate and Habit and mortified Behaviour for something Divine did shine through their looks and one might read the Characters of the Spirit in their Countenance Nor is it very strange that a good Man should be known by his Carriage for to this day a serious Person though he says nothing something in his Lineaments and Features and Postures will betray the inward Zeal and Sincerity of his Soul and his deportment will discover there is something more than ordinary in him as much as the Roman Senator was betray'd by the Perfumes about him Whenever they were thrust into the Croud of Malefactors their Fellow-Christians soon guessed who they were for they hastned with Meekness to their Martyrdom and without expressing any impatience or indignation submitted their Necks to the stroak of the Axe prepared for them They used to look frequently up to Heaven and one might by their smiles see that between God and them there was more than ordinary Correspondence Sometimes they would provoke the Executioners to
them nor did Want sit so heavy on their Souls as it doth on ours for they had learned to undervalue Riches and that which made them slight it were these two impressions the Apostles Doctrine had made on their Souls 1. This sunk deep into their Hearts that here we have no Continuing City but we seek one to come That all we see here is but shadow and imagery but the substance is not yet Visible that the fashion of this World will pass away and the Gaudes and Glories below the Moon afford no real satisfaction This made it ridiculous in their eyes to snatch at a Butterfly or a Flying Feather and they rationally believed that whatever is subject to time and change will certainly make it self Wings and flee away and leave the Soul as empty as it found it and that therefore their Thoughts must be turned another way even there where constant satisfaction lasting content permanent happiness perfect beauty and uninterrupted joys are to be found and indeed this duly weigh'd will breed a mighty contempt of Temporal things and a certain expectation of future Bliss 2. Another thing that did no less contribute towards it was their Belief that the end of the World was at hand and the day of Judgment approaching The time is short cryed their Pastors the Lord is coming He will be upon you before you are aware to what purpose will ye treasure up Riches Lands Goods Houses which the Fire will shortly consume and carry away Hence it was that they lived every moment in expectation of the last day and troubled not their heads with thinking how they should fill their Barns and their Coffers for they knew not how long they should enjoy them and no marvel if under these thoughts and circumstances they freely parted with their Worldly Goods sold their Lands and Houses and bought no more and brought what they had and laid it down at the Apostles feet that they might follow a Naked Saviour naked Nor did the care of their Children fill their Hearts with anxious Thoughts for they were sensible that whenever the Church had notice of their want they would certainly be relieved and looked after for as many Fathers and Mothers left their Estates and what they had to the Church so the Church employ'd those Legacies or Gifts to support all those that should be necessitous Besides this their Pastors both by their Doctrine and Example admonish'd them to be diligent in working with their own hands that they might get something not only to be beneficial to themselves but to others too and indeed they thought they did little or nothing if of what they got they did not communicate to those who were not able to help themselves They had nothing that was superfluous and hence it was that there was but little striving about what they left To lay up much Goods for many years they thought was fitter for Heathens than for Christians and having seen no such thing in their Master they could not tell how it could be proper in his Servants They believed that it was their Pastors Office to take care of all to maintain the Poor and to distribute to all according to their several necessities for since God took that care upon him to feed the World they thought it would not be unbecoming his Ministers to do so too This made them entrust at first the Apostles and afterwards their Spiritual Pastors with what they could spare to receive of them again when they should stand in need And now their Teachers did truly become their Fathers and they acknowledged themselves to be their Children and owning them for their Fathers they gave them a Right to admonish them to correct to reprove them to direct them and to lead them to Perfection and own'd a strong obligation at the same time to love honour reverence and obey them And though the number of Christians was already prodigiously encreased yet were not their numbers troublesome to their Pastors who loved to do good and to spend themselves and to be spent in that Service Men who had no design but to lay themselves out for God and his Church and with Moses were contented to be surrounded with people all day long to discharge that Paternal care of their Souls and Bodies which they had undertaken Nor were their Pastors therefore the Richer because their Disciples brought what they had to them for they that were to receive from them were more than those who gave and they took it in only with a design to disperse it again among the Needy Love of Money admiration of Riches and anxious worldly Cares and desires of Hoarding were things they had an antipathy against and though out of that Stock they provided themselves with Necessaries yet for engrossing any thing to themselves besides was a thought as far from their Minds as the Heaven they longed for was from that Earth on which they trampled and looked upon with pity and scorn for Alas what greediness could there be in them after Temporal Means who were already greater than the World could make them and took delight in nothing but surveying that glory which ere-long they should rejoice and triumph in So that they took the Peoples Money without any danger of Covetousness They were Men that had fought for Christ and left all to follow him they were big with the Promises of the Gospel and consequently with hopes of Everlasting Joys had already tasted of the Powers of the World to come and mock'd at Worldly-mindedness They remembred that they were but Stewards for the Poor and Nursing Fathers to Persons in distress and Presidents of the Hospitals Nor did their High-places make them uneasie in their Poververty for they loved it and made choice of it as a Companion and a Friend This made the People love them exceedingly not because they took delight to see their Pastors poor but because they saw that they who had so much Money at their disposal would make no use of it for their own interest but were contentedly poor in that Plenty and would want themselves rather than see others faint If any were so Malicious as to traduce their Teachers and brand them with the guilt of Covetousness or Slander them their Pastors used no other Weapon to put by the Sting but Meekness to the Backbiter and their own innocence by degrees dash'd and and wiped away all aspersions Hence the Christians gave them their own freely for they believed they could loose nothing by it and long experience had so confirm'd that belief that Envy it self could make no impressions upon them to the contrary when it was in their hands they thought it was safer than in their own and being hereby freed from abundance of Cares and Incumbrances they pressed more chearfully to the promised Mark. If any Christian kept any Land in his hands his care was so to use his Income as to give God the First Fruits of it to bring his