this But if our believing Sanctification brings us This then certainly our believing our Salvation will bring us at Of Set Meditation IN Set Mediation there are four things to be consider'ds The Circumstances the Preparation the Act it self and the Conclusion The Circumstances FOR the Time This is left to every man's discretion yet Bishop Vsher advises us to make choice of the Lords day in the Evening when we may call to mind what we have heard and the better to keep it in memory take the Hendi of Sermons For the Place as retir'd as may be and the room somewhat dark that the Senses may have no object to draw them away For the Space there is requir'd but one hour in seven Days and thou wilt find it the best hour that ever thou did'st spend The Preparation THE time allotted for this Exercise being come retire into thy Closet and having shut the door before thou go about this great Work do thy Homage fall down prostrate groveling and kissing the dust laying thy self at the feet of God labor to be convinc'd of and affected with the presence of God consider whom tho art to deal with a God before whom all things are Naked and Bare who is in the highest Heavens full of Glory and Majesty who will not be dally'd with or mock'd but Sanctify'd in those that approach him therefore must thou be careful not to speak Foolishly before so Wise a God Again a most Just God hat will not indure that you should hide or foster any Sin And yet of a most Gracious and marvellus sweet nature who if we ask Pardon and Forgiveness Grace and Wisdom confessing and forsaking our Sins and hoping in his Mercy will not upbraid us with our Unthankfulness Undutifulness Sins and Rebellions against him Beg of God assistance to perform this Duty Pray to him that He would be pleas'd to direct thee in the choice of thy Subject that he would put such Considedrations and Thoughts into thy Heart that thou may'st be convinc'd of and affected with the Truths of his Word The Act it Self NOW pitch upon a Subject The Subjects of our Meditations should be such things as are Plain Certain and Evident and not Intricate Abstruse Controversial and Doubtful Speculations much less such as are Curious and Nice We must chuse those places of Scripture to Meditate on as are most sutable to our present condition and the dispensations of Gods Providence either in general or personal to Ourselves or to his Church Let your Meditation be upon Scriptures sutable to your Temptations Let your Meditations be sutable to the Ordinances you are to be partakers of Let Christ be very much the Subject of your Meditation This Holy and Solemn Meditation consists of Three parts The first I call Consideration which is nothing else but the convincing our hearts of several Truths which do belong to the Subject whereof we Meditate To help us herein we may consider 1 what Scripture 2. what Reason saith concerning it a few pertinent Scriptures and weighty Reasons are as good as many for this purpose We should not over multiply our Considerations but as soon as we find our Hearts strongly affected then we are to pass over that part but yet we must be sure to let our considerations take deep root before we pass over to Affections and Resolutions but in case our Affections are very much inflam'd as soon as ever we begin our Considerations we are to yield to the Inspiration of God and follow the leading of his Spirit and not bind up and limit the extraordinary working of it but otherwise we must not leave blowing the Fire as soon as ever it begins to flame for green Wood will suddenly go out unless it be very well kindled We should view the Subject in all its Faces turning it on all sides but not tye our selves up to Logical methods The second thing in the Act it self is a Working on the Affections The first which is a calling to mind and debating the matter is an Act of the Understanding the end of which is to inlighten the Mind with Knowledge The second is an Act of the Will and Affections laying the matter to heart and applying of it close and home the end of which is to fill the heart with Goodness Here therefore we must examin Our selves and Actions whether they be according to the Rule or wherein they come short or differ from it Nor should we give over this Search till we find our Hearts in some measure become Pliable Broken and Affected The third part of the Act it self is Resolution to do this or that This Resolution should be firm and strong in the present not future Tense and as well against the Means Occasions and Temptation to any Sin as against the Sin it self We must peremptorily charge our Souls in every Faculty Understanding Will and Affections to Reform and Conform to the Rule of God's Word In Meditating we must joyn all these three together otherwise we shal never bring our Meditation to any profitable issue for if we only study to find out what 's True or False Good or Evil we may gain much Knowledge of the Head little Goodness of the Heart And if we only apply to our selves that whereon we have mused we may by finding our selves Transgressors lay Guilt upon our Conscience without fruit or comfort But if to both these we add a Resolution through Grace to be such as God commands us and lay a peremptory charge upon our selves to live hereafter according to his Law and to follow his Counsel touching what we should believe and do when we have offended him then we shall reap both benefit and comfort by this Exercise The Conclusion FOR the Conclusion of our Meditations we must first with earnest desire beg of God strength to perform whatsoever we have resolv'd to do being humble and sensible of our own Infirmity Secondly we must return praise and thanks to God if we have perceiv'd any warmth of Love to God or tasted of him or any other Spiritual effect wrought in our hearts Thirdly we must humbly acknowledge our Failings in the performing of this Duty Fourthly we must remember the Vows and Promises which we have made Fifthly we must remember what Passages in our Meditation did most affect us and lay them up in our thoughts that we may hereafter think upon them Lastly we must by degrees warily go out of the presence of God being careful and watchful that we lose not the Sense and Feeling Warmth Strength and Grace we have got This is the most proper and genuine Method for Meditation Preservatives against Sin COnsider first the Fruits and Wages of Sin The best it yields is Sorrow and Repentance if not dreadful Punishments If thou dost commit it t' will poison and invenom all Conditions it will sowre thy Prosperity with Preapprehensions of Wrath haunting thee like an importunate Creditor a wild Gallant spoiling thy Jollity and
due and holy Order cheerfully with thy Heart In hearing apply each speech as spoken by God to thee in particular Like a Practiser of the Art of Memory refer all things to their proper place If it be matter of comfort this is for my sick Bed for my outward losses for my drooping under affliction for the Sence of any Spiritual Defection If matter of Doctrine that is for my settlement in such a Trust for the conviction of such an Error for my direction in such a practise If matter of Reproof and threatnings against Sin whether thy own or others as a member of the same Body or in danger thereof be humbled do not point at thy Neighbour but deeply charge thy self This meets with my dead heartedness and security with my Worldly mindedness Self-love and Flattery of my own Estate This with my uncharitable Censoriousness with my foolish proud Heart That with my Hypocrisie and the neglect of Gods Service and my Duty That with my Irregular Life and Conversation Resolve to walk in every good way and to depart from all evil This is the best Art of Memory for exceeding Joyes Griefs Hatred or desires do leave the deepest Impressions in us and so stick longest by us In hearing therefore labor to exercise Humility under Reproofs Rejoycing in all the Promises Thankfulness for Mercies Desire after Graces and holy Resolution of amendment and more close walking with God As thou returnest home or when thou art entred into thy House Meditate a little while upon those things thou hast heard and then kneeling down turn all into a Prayer beseeching God to pardon thy Sins of Worship to accept of thee and thy Imperfect performances in and through Christ thy Lord to give such a blessing to those things which thou hast heard that they may be a direction to thy Life and a consolation to thy Soul Eat Moderately at Dinner rather sparingly than plentifully on this day That thou may'st be fit for the afternoon Exercises Som little and short Discourse about Temporal things upon occasion may be so directed and temper'd with Pious Meditation as that it may rather be a furtherance than hindrance of the Duties of Religion and indeed such Business or Discourse in such a manner doth not withdraw the Mind from God's Worship But be sure that in all thy Speeches and Actions this day there be no lightness nor Vanity nor any thing unbecoming the Solemnity Sacredness and Seriousness of it Walk half an hour after Dinner to digest thy meat and then go to thy Chamber and recollect what you remember of the forenoon Sermon If you are well be sure you attend on God's Ordinances Fore-noon and Afternoon Ps 92.1 Acts. 20.7 For so often exercises of publick Worship ought to be held After evening Sermon retire to thy Closet read the Chapters in which the Texts were then recollect and examine what you have heard meditating on the whole Sermon in order The Coherence and Explication of the Text The occasion and meaning The chief Sum and Scope of the Holy Ghost in it The Division or parts The Doctrines severally by marking the Text and how they were gather'd out of it The Proofs and Reasons of the several Doctrines The Uses And lastly which is the chief of all apply it to thy self and try what work every part hath in thee If the Preacher's Method be too curious or confused then labor to remember How many things he taught which thou knowest not before and be thankful What Sin he reprov'd whereof thy Conscience tells thee thou art Guilty and therefore must be confess'd repented of resolv'd against and amended What Virtues he exhorted to which are not so perfect in thee and therefore thou must indeavour to practice them with more Zeal and Diligence After the finishing of thy Closet exercise or as a preparation to it thou mayest walk in the Fields and Meditate on the Works of God for in every Creature thou may'st see the Wisdom Power Goodness Providence and Justice of God Pray to God that he would open thy Eyes so as thou mayest give him the Glory of his Works Especially consider these things more fully in their several Ends and Uses as the Scriptures apply them Be sure to return so early as neither thy Closet nor Family Devotions if not perform'd be omitted Works of necessity may this day be perform'd and works of Mercy thou art not to forget Such as Visiting the Sick Instructing Exhorting Admonishing Reproving Comforting Relieving Collecting c. To conclude Thou may'st certainly expect that God will proportion his Blessings to thee as thou measurest to him in thy Preparation to come before him Lev. 10.3 22.3 Ex. 19.22 Mal. 7.2 Mar. 4.14 Psal 44.5 Isa 56.58 Ez. 7.10 Gen. 35.2.5 Ec. 4.17 1 Cor. 11.23.24 Mat. 5.23.24 Therefore as thou desirest the Blessing of a Sabbath so resolve by a constant Vow to perform thy work of Preparation and try whether the Lord will not perform his Promise abundantly Examin thy Life thou shalt find that a strict and diligent observation of the Duties of this day has ever joyn'd to it a Blessing upon the rest of thy time and the Week that is so begun has been blessed and prosperous Whereas when thou hast been negligent of the Duties of this day the rest of thy Week has been unsuccessful I could easily saith Judge Hales make an Estimate of my success in my own Secular Employments by the manner of my passing and spending the Lord's day On Wednesday or Thursday evening set some time apart for Recollecting and Reviewing what thou did'st hear and lay up in thy mind the Lord's day past this will rivet the Word the faster in thy Memory and put thee in mind to practice it A Prayer for the Morning QVicken me O Lord that I may call upon thy Name prepare my unprepared Heart by the Blessed Influences of the Spirit of Grace and Supplication O most holy and most glorious Lord God the Almighty Maker and careful Preserver of all thy Creatures but especially the Saviour and Sanctifier of them that Believe by the Merit and Efficacy of the Blood of Jesus Christ I sinful Dust and Ashes dare not of my self lift up my Eyes to Heaven yet through thy dear Son my Saviour come unto thee according to thy Command and Promise freely acknowledging that I am less than the least of all thy Mercies and therefore utterly unworthy of the inestimable favour of being thy Child and a fellow Heir with Christ that after suffering a little here I should Reign with him for evermore For thou know'st O Lord that in Sin I was conceiv'd and born and that I have lived ever since in Iniquity I am by Nature the Child of Wrath a Vassal of Satan an Enemy to Thee my God It was thy great Mercy that I escaped thy Wrath due unto me at the very instant of my Birth in respect of that Mass of Corruption which I brought with me
from my Mother's Womb and thy long-suffering Patience and Compassion that never fail that I have not been long ago consumed swallowed up or swept away with some extraordinary Judgment for those many gross and heinous Sins of my Life my whole Nature is deformed with Original corruption my whole Life my whole Life abounding with the fruits thereof all manner of actual Transgressions My Vnderstanding is full of Blindness Vanity and Infidelity my Conscience Dead and Remorsless my Heart Hard and Impenitent my Affections Disorderly and Violent Vnruly and Masterless my Appetite Sensual and Brutish I have no ability to any good Duty no restraint or moderation in Sinning against thee Yea if I do any Good I am apt to blemish it with Self-love and Hypocrisie if I abstain from any Evil it is many times rather from the Act than from the Love of it I ought to have lived as under covenant with thee but wretch that I am I have broken my Vow falsified my Faith and violated the everlasting Covenant What Commandment of thine is there O Lord I have not transgressed What Grace I have not abused What Curse I have not deserved When I view the wretched course of my Life and consider my weighty and crying Sins what Lord can I say And what confusion should cover me Here confess to God thy secret Sins with the Circumstances of Time Place Person and Manner c. In how many things have I Sinned against Knowledge against Conscience against Light and against many Vows and Promises of better Obedience I have no colour of excuse nothing to plead with thee in defence of my many and heinous Sins if I dispute I must lay my hand upon my mouth and learn to abhor my self in Dust and Ashes for Lord for these my Sins I stand here guilty of thy Curse with all the Miseries of this Life and that to come But O blessed Lord thou art he that Justifies the ungodly and hast sent thy Son to die for Sinners and hast made a general Offer and invited all to come unto Christ that they may be sav'd whosoever will every very one that thirsteth yea and hast most graciously promised John 6.37 That him that cometh shall not in any wise be repulsed or cast out John 3.16,17 Luke 2.10 and that whosoever believeth shall not perish that thou wilt not despise a broken heart Rev. 22.17 John 7.37 John 6.40 2 Cor. 5.20 John 3.23 Nay Lord it is thy Will Desire and Command that I should believe on the Name of thy Son that so I may be saved 1 John 5.10 And thy Word of Truth saith That whosoever believeth not maketh thee a Lyar. O Father of Mercies I am bold in the name of Christ to come unto thee and by the hand of Faith to lay hold upon thy Promises yet feeling my own weakness I beseech thee strengthen my unbelief and what assurance I cannot have by my Faith weakly embracing thee let me have from thy self embracing me who art mighty to save Thou did'st inable thy Servant Jacob to lay hold on thee and not let thee go till thou had'st blessed him Lord give me the same Strength the same Courage and the same Success I beseech thee O Lord who despisest not the sighing of a contrite heart nor desirest the death of a penitent Sinner but delightest by thy Goodness to Reign where Sins have most abounded to pardon and forgive me all my Sins and to wash away the unâ—…leanness of them by that precious Blood of Sprinkling which Christ Jesus my Saviour hath shed I hope for me And seeing he has born the burden of the Curse due for my Transgressions deliver me O Lord both from my Sins and those Judgments which hang over my head as due unto me for the same bury them in the Burial of Christ that they may never have power to rise up against me to shame me in this life or condemn me in that to come And I beseech thee O Lord not only to pardon the Guilt of my Sins but to purge my heart by thy holy Spirit from the Dross of my natural Corruptions that I may feel thy Spirit more and more killing my sins in the power and practise thereof especially my special Sins and Corruptions Let my Flesh be Crucified with its Affections and Lusts And let me find the power of Christ's death mortifying my corruptions and the power of his Resurrection raising me up to newness of life Arm me O Lord with the Furniture of thy Grace and write thy Laws in my inward parts that I may not only be thy Soldier but thy Servant and Subject Set up the Scepter of thy Kingdom in my Conscience subdue my heart to the obedience of thy Commands win my Affections to the Love of thy Statutes conform my Life to the Rule of thy Righteousness and transform me daily more and more into thy Image Bless all the Means of Grace unto me and me with a heart sanctified and set upon the Means for the increase of Grace let thy holy Word be my chief Treasure thy Statutes my Counsellors thy Promises my Comforters thy Sacraments my Delicates thy Sabbaths my best Daies and thy Servants my dearest Companions Renew daily with me the Covenant of thy Peace and now this morning let thy Spirit from Heaven Seal me a new Patent of Mercy that being to meet with thee in the ways and works of this day I may be sure to find thee as a reconciled Father not as an offended Judge As thou do'st add Days unto my Life so good Lord add Repentance and amendment unto my Days and bestow a supply upon me of all those Graces which thou knowest to be wanting in me and necessary for me with an increase of all those Gifts wherewith thou hast already indowed me Give unto me such Spiritual Eye-sight that I may see thee in thy Word and Works Let me live in thy sight and not without thee as the Gentiles do O let me not be cast out of thy presence as Cain nor run against thee as Balaam but walk with thee as Enoch Noah and Abraham in all my ways taking knowledge of thy Presence Promises and Providences Bless me O Lord this day in the Duties of my Calling preserve me from all fraudulent oppressing greedy Courses Draw my Affections from the Love of this World fix my heart upon things above if things succeed according to my mind make me thankful to thee which hast given the Blessing if any Cross comes make me patient and careful to profit by the Chastisement good Lord do thou bless me with such a portion of Health Peace Prosperity and every good thing as may inable and make me Chearful in Duty And because the daily occasions of danger to my Soul are infinite teach me to keep my Heart with all diligence to make a Covenant with my Eyes to keep my mouth as with a Bridle for the avoiding all filthy communication to use
A Christian's Journal OR Brief Directions FOR DEVOTION AND CONVERSATION Brevis Praedicatio longa Comminatio Actio perpetua Denique quid verbis opus est spectemur agendo LONDON Printed for the Author and sold by R. Bentley in Russel-street 1684. TO THE Right Honourable The LADY PHILIPPA MOHVN Baroness of Oakhampton Madam I Humbly present to your Ladyship these few Gleanings which I have gather'd and ty'd up into this little Sheaf I am not asham'd to acknowledge that much of it is none of my own In Divinity all men must be Borrowers and no man knows more than what is Reveal'd the Ambition of Discovery has been one of the chiefest grounds of those many Heresies and Schisms with which the World is at this day over-run and the Church divided And to me 't is no great wonder when men dispute Wisdom with their Maker when soaring Wits will not stoop and submit to the plain Truths of the Gospel but think themselves able to correct Scripture and find out more New and Easie wayes to Heaven than our blessed Saviour or his Apostles have ever inform'd the World of that so many Wander and Miscarry You have here Madam set down the thoughts of several Learned Divines upon the same Subject Various Rules from divers Hands directing our Practice and yet all of them so Weighty as I doubt not but your Ladyship will confess few of them could have well been omitted You will find men of different Opinions here All consenting to further Holyness of Life It is the mischief Madam of our Days that men are too much of a Party in Religion and regard not so much what is said as who is the Preacher So that 't is as dangerous to quote Charnock or Owen in the Pulppit as Mead or Sanderson in a Meeting This Madam is one Reason why I conceal Mens names that the Reader may be no way byass'd by them And I have indeavour'd so to mingle different Parties that 't will not be very easie to discern the Bishop from the Doctor or the Coat from the Cassock that so men that are set upon Quarrels may Fight in the dark where 't is odds they mistake their man And this Madam is the only excuse I have for hiding my self in the Croud of your Admirers among whom you have not Madam A more Real humble Servant Covent Garden Sept. 15. 1683. Errata P. 31. l. 13. for a r. as P. 51. l. 5 6. r. Imaginations P. 54. l. 20. No Comma after Containing P. 74. l. 5. for your r. Our P. 86. l. 1. blot out the. P. 89. l. 9. for to r. by P. 95. l. 18. r. with P. 100. l. 18. r. delight most P. 121. l. 7. for thy r. the. P. 134. l. 2. for all r. ill P. 139. l. 6. for Neither r. Never P. 180. l. 14. No Comma after in P. 243. l. 13. r. bring us that P. 246. l. 17. for bat r. that P. 258. l. 5. no Comma after best P. 280. penult for knowest r. knewest CAP. I. Introduction Sect. 1. THE best way to please God the nearest and readiest way to Heaven and to get a chearful Heart in the mean time till we come thither is to walk with God in all Uprightness to live by Faith which is to frame our Life according to the Will of God revealed in his Word This God commands to Abraham Gen. 17.1 I am God all-sufficient walk thou before me and be thou upright This is commended to us by a Cloud of Examples of Enoch Noah Job David Zacharias c. Then a Man is said to walk with God when he daily goes on to repent of his Sins past when he believes in Christ for Pardon and believes his Word for Direction when he sets God before him and walks always as in his presence not after the Flesh but Spirit not to the will of Man but God Sect. 2. Everyday is a little Life bound with the Night and Morning as with Birth and Death one Day is the Brief of the whole and the whole but a Day repeated A good Christian first turns himself to God by Prayer alone then with his Family then to his Calling to his Society Eating and drinking and at Night returns ro his rest in all these walking Godly Soberly and Righteously This is the sum of Life and of the ensuing Manual wherein Directions are offered for each of these particulars which may not be without their use especially to such who are not better provided How to begin each Day IN the Morning when you awake accustom your self to think on God or something in order to his Service let thy fist thoughts be for Him who made the Night for Rest and the Day for Travel who has given thee rest preserved thee while thou slept and renews his loving kindness to thee every morning thankfully acknowledge the Mercies thou hast received and earnestly pray for those thou standest in need of Prayer is the best Key to open the Morning and the surest Bar to shut up all at Night A Heart early perfumed with Gods presence will savour of him all the day after Arise as early as the necessity of thy Body or Mind will permit according to the Example of our Blessed Saviour Joh. 8.2 Matth. 1.35 This Practice will be for the Health of thy Body for the advantage of thy Spiritual and Temporal estate hereby thou wilt have the day before thee and gain the fitest season and large Portions of time for the exercise of Religion and works of thy Calling besides thou wilt be more able and active for any employment Too much Sleep hurts the Brain dulls the Wit impairs the Memory and makes a man more slothful like the Drunkard who becomes more dry through excess The time betwixt your waking and arising may profitably be employed in occasional Meditation While your Body is dressing not with effeminate Curiosity nor yet with rude Neglect let your Mind address her self to her ensuing Task bethink what is to be done and in what order and because every day thou shalt surely be assaulted by the World the Flesh and the Devil fail not to put on thy Spiritual Armour prescribed Ephes 6. from the 12. to 18. that thou mayest be able to resist Consider what temptations thy Business or Company are most likely to lay thee open to the day following and Arm thy self with Resolution against them And again what occasions of doing Service to God or Good to thy Neighbour are most likely to present themselves and resolve to embrace them And Lastly thou may'st consider thy self with thy Equals either in Estate Age or other Circumstances what are thy particular failings what thy Natural Infirmities what those things are in thy Words Actions Behaviour and whole manner of Life which diminish thy Reputation and make thee less than thy Equals and what thy aims and ends are with the Rules of Life thou hast set thy self This is likewise a fit time to call to mind what
owne Designs under pretence for Religion Liberty Restitution of Laws Reformation of Cabals and evil Counsellors Ministers of State c. If the Supremacy be invaded the lapses of the Former Magistrate must be inculcated with the greatest advantage What is wanting in reality must be supply'd with Calumny He must hire mercenary Jesuits or other Divines to cry up his ayms in the Churches that so the Poison may insinuate more generally into all the parts If success awaits his enterprises he must urge it to Authenticate his Cause He ought to change with the times If he find reason to impose Oaths let them be of such ambiguity as may furnish with a Sense obliging to the Design and yet so soft as the People may not feel the smart Necessity of State is a very competent Apology for the worst of Actions He must wave all Relations both Sacred and Civil and Swim to his Design tho' in a Sea of Blood A general Innovation contributes much to the growth and security of Usurpation He supposes that men are not rightly and safely to be wrought upon and bow'd to the Bent of his will otherwise than by Fear and therefore he indeavours by all means possible to have every man obnoxious low and in streights His Maximes are Cadant amici dummodo inimici intercidant as the Triumviri sold the lives of their Friends for the death of their Enemies If once a Fire seize upon his Fortune he will extinguish it not with Water but with Ruin Men are to be deceiv'd with Oaths With such corrupt and pernicious Arts and Positions as these and others of the same Impression whereof as in all other things the evil are more in number than the good and sound a man may be more speedy and compendious in the promoting his Fortune But it is in Life as in Ways the shortest way is commonly the foulest and surely the fairest way is not much about Men ought therefore in the pursuit of Fortune to set before their Eyes not only that general Map of the whole World That All things are Vanity and Vexation of Spirit But also that more particular Card and Description That Being without Well being is a Curse and that all Virtue is most rewarded and all Wickedness is most Punish'd in its self Of Recreation and Pleasure IT is one chief point of Wisdom to know how to temper our Pleasures and Sorrows Events will Vary if We continue the same it matters not Let us learn then by a just survey to know the due and lawful bounds of Pleasure and then neither to go beyond nor remove them Be acquainted with the Quality of Pleasure and the Measure many have lost themselves in a Lawful delight through excess Could we settle in our selves a right estimation of that wherein we delight and resolve every thing into it's first matter there would be more danger of contempt than overjoy What is the Human Body whose beauty we so admire but the same Earth we tread upon What those precious Mettals we Worship but Veins of the Earth better colour'd and if we look to their end we shall see Laughter end in Tears and Death and Conscience scourging with a long smart for a short pleasure In Recreations we are to observe all due Circumstances they must be Decent becoming our Person Place and Calling They must be seasonable at such times as are allotted and allow'd by God unto them Pleasures must ever give place to Duties and none of our Business must be lost for Sport They ought to be taken as Physick or at least as Wine our Love and Affections must not fix and fasten upon them for then they will not only consume too much of our time but our Hearts will be unsetled and our Affections wean'd from Religious Exercises When our sports come to that excess that we tempt others and hunt and long for Opportunities when we sit up till midnight and spend half days then we have spoil'd the sport 'T is no longer a Recreation but a Sin All our Recreations must be without Scandal neither using such before others at which they have any Scruple or any unseemly lightness Vanity or Passion in them Our Recreations ought not to be too costly not only considering how many empty Bowels and naked Backs how many distressed Members of the same Body cry to us even with tears of Blood for Relief and compassion from our abundance but the great and exact Account we must e're long give of every Farthing how we got it how we spent it with what Warrant we kept it A good man ought not for Recreation sake to consort himself with evil Company Epheâ— 5. Nothing causes more Friendly acquaintance and Familiarity nothing sooner breeds likeness of Manners and conditions than agreement and communion in the same Delights From liking the Pleasure we come to like our Companion in it and from affecting the Man we come at last to affect his Manners Recreation is to be used as a Liberal Exercise and not as a sordid Trade Gameing is an inordinate Course which God never appointed nor blest to get Wealth and so is no better nay rather worse than common Theft in that being committed by mutual agreement the loser becomes accessory to the Theft of the Winner and is as well as he not only a Robber of himself but of his Family making both sad and poor because the Dice turn up an unlucky Chance In all our Recreations we must take care that we forget not God and be not lovers of Pleasure more than lovers of Him Isa 5.12 2 Tim. 3.4 And then when our Pleasures exclude not the presence of God nor the fruition of him when we have his Blessing on them and use them without dotage as in God from God and to God we are safe Evening Exercises HAving thus walk'd with God from Morning untill Night it remains that we conclude the Day with him Evening therefore being now come no Tradesman should be more careful to clear his Shop-board and shut up his Windows than we should be to shut up our Thoughts and clear our Minds That man shall live miserably who like a Camel lies down under his burden Before therefore thou goest to thy rest retire thy self a little and having finish'd thy course of Reading sit down and take a strict view of thy whole carriage the day past look back and call Orderly to thy mind the several places and companies thou hast been in the day past and how thou hast carry'd thy self in each examining thy self by thy Thoughts and Affections by thy Words and Actions For instance calling thy self to account say Thus much time was spent this day in such a place Did any Lie drop from me there Any corrupt unsavory rash and unsuitable Discourse Did no unruly Passion break out Were my Affections holy and humble and my heart chast and pure My Behaviour Wise and Courteous becoming my Place and Person while I was there Thus thou
Pensiveness makes us apt for inward speculation sometimes a wakeful Bed calls upon us to examine our hearts many such occasions God offers if we were either Wise to see or Willing to make use of them But if opportunities do not offer themselves we should make them A Wise man makes more than he finds Spare an hour in a Week one day in a Month for this business Say not thou hast a Calling to mind many businesses that require thy presence and diligence and therefore can'st not mind all Intend thou the chiefest and that is Religion These are good indeed in their time and place This only of absolute necessity The Subject of our Tryal should be our whole Man Whether we find the change that is the New brith begun in us Our mind whether we labour to be daily more enlighten'd to know that which is good and to be embrac'd and that which is evil for to be avoided by increasing in the knowledg of the Word and especially of Jesus Christ and him Crucified reveal'd in the same Our Memory whether it do more firmly keep those good things that it has learned Our Will whether it more freely chuse the good and refuse the evil and so be daily more pliant and obedient to the will of the Lord Our Affections whether they be every day more conform'd to the holiness of Christ that is in loving that which God loves hating that which he hates rejoicing in that whereby he is honour'd and well pleased grieving for the contrary fearing only the offending of him securing our selves in his love and favour alone Our Conscience whether it be still tender Checking us for every fault done or intended Quieting us in this assurance That our Sins are wash'd away in the Blood of Christ Bearing Witness unto us of our upright lives and conversations at least begun with a resolute purpose so to proceed all our dayes Our Body whether it indeavour after more ability daily to perform every Duty accordingly and in every part and all this at all times and in all places convenient Finally we are to examine our whole Life or conversation whether ewe feel a change therein unto newness of Life All these being the Lord's he does require this holiness in them all and that by striving to perfection each day to grown a little until we come to a perfect man the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ Until we fell such a change in some measure we can never have any true comfort Again we are to examine our Faith whether it be true or no Revel 22.17 John 7.37 Saving Faith is never without its Grounds which are God's free proffer John 6.40 2 Cor. 5.20 1 Joh. 3.23 and 5.10 His Will and Desire his Command and Promise Joh. 6.36 It has ever some Word or Writing from God to shew for that which it believes It will make one willing to try it ones self and willing any body else should try it yea God himself 1 Cor. 3.5 Psal 139.23 Where saving Faith is there will be a Spiritual Strugling and Conflict not between the Conscience convinc'd and the Will as was in Pilate John 19.12 16. But between the Regenerate and Unregenerate Part Rom. 7.22.23 as was in Paul 2. Thes 1.3 Again as a living Child it always grown tho' not in sight at least in desire and indeavours making a man more Conscionable and giving him better warning of Sin as a Clock is known to go true when it strikes right tho' you cannot see it move forward It gains by Opportunities and waxes stronger by Resistance Again Saving Faith is known by its Antecedents and Consequents but more easily by its Fruits and Effects than by its Causes as Life by Motion and Fire by Heat Gal. 5.6 Rom. 6.13 And thus it is a living Faith It loves and desires the Word Gods Ordinances and all holy Means because it is both begotten and nourish'd thereby Psal 84.2 It makes a new Creature pruifying the Heart and regulating the Life Acts 15.9 Rom 6.4 It makes them Virtuous Temperate Patient Godly which before were the contrary 2 Pet. 1.5 It works Repentance and a true abandoning of Sin making us grudge it any room in us It makes one not contented with Thinking he has it but very desirous and industrious to be sure and Certain It works Self-denial both in regard of God for doing or suffering h is Will and of our Neighbour in forgiving forbearing and not doing them the least Wrong to do our Selves the greatest Benefit seeking and desiring his good as it were our own and requiting any hurt done us by doing all the good we can It drawn Virtue and Holiness from Christ for the cure of our spiritual Diseases It makes us complain of much want in our Faith and weakness in our believing out of a Sense of Unbelief Mar. 9.24 as a burden to us It convets more and more earnestly the Favour of God and better assurance of it therefore will make us neither to favour our selves in any Sin nor to be content with any prosperity without it 2. Cor. 5.28 Cant. 8 14. Revel 22.20 It will make us long more after Christ and his ravishing sweetness as Lovers for the Marriage day It expels Worldliness from rulinginus because it finds an All-sufficiency in Christ So that we cannot love the World more than Grace and Holiness 1 John 5.4 and 2.16 Heb. 11.26 Rom 3.27 It excludes Boasting of our Gifts Parts or good deeds It works in us Inward Spiritual life Now Christ liveth in us and we in him Gal 2.20 Which life may be known as natural life is by the Working of the Heart panting after God Psal 42.1 And by the beating of the Pulses in our regular motions of constant indeavours and holy obedience Heb. 5.4 By the operation of the Senses discerning Good and Evil By breathing a Spiritual and sweet breath of Grace Ecl. 10. â—… Col. 4 6. By the motion of Hand and Foot which moves to God and for God It drives out Hypocrisy which serves not God for Love but for By-ends It will not suffer us to make hast to depart from God by evil means to help our selves Isai 28 16. Psal 40.1 Lastly true Faith obtaines what it believes things for present in present and things to come in their due time Matth. 8.13 and 21 22. So also this Faith obtains all the Benefits by Christ As deliverance from the Reigning power of Sin Sanctification and Grace Rom. 6.14 as well as Salvation dependence on God Patience Contentedness and sufficiency in him If we obtain these things our Faith is True or else it is False and Counterfeit For how can we know that our believing Salvation shall bring us Salvation when as our believing Sanctification does not made us Holy Or how shall our Faith prove True for another World that proves False for
Content In thy Adversity it will add affliction to affliction Superadding to thy outward troubles a misgiving Soul Besides Sin unqualifies thee for any good Duty either to God or Man If thou prayest yet the sense of Sin thou bringest with thee makes thee ungrateful to thy self and how can'st thou expect to be accepted by the Holy God In a good work the Sin thou art guilty of makes the comfort of it Insipid thy Heart tells thee There is sin in the Conscience and this makes thee asham'd to own the good that is in the Action Again will it not be a grief to the good Angels to be present and Spectators of thy Enormities will it not work a loathing and nauseousness in them and cause those chast and pure Spirits who are employ'd for thy preservation to retire themselves And will it not be a most grateful Spectacle to the envious and malignant Spirits and lay thee open to their power and malice who have gotten thee within their Territories unless God in mercy restrain them Consider the heynousness of the least Sin It is against God's Infinite Majesty and the riches of his Bounty in giving his Son for us Also against his Honor and the Love and Loyalty we profess to owe unto him for all his Goodness and Mercy and likewise against our Covenant with him the vileness of which is seen in the fearful Punishments of the Sin of Angels Adam the old World Lot's Wife Saul and so of Moses Vzzah David Josiah and chiefly that inflicted on the Son of God for our Sins Numb 20.24 Deut. 3.26 A Child of God cannot look to carry away the least Sin against Knowledge and Conscience unpunish'd without speedy submission and amendment Live alwaies as in God's presence whose Eye is ever upon thee and who may take thee away on a sudden Gen. 17.1 Job 32.22 2 Cor. 5.15 Remember thy appearance before him and account every day thy last being always prepar'd to give upthy Account Keep continually a fresh remembrance of God's great Goodness especially his chief Mercies Bodily and Spiritual Ordinary and Extraordinary Let thy great Deliverances never depart out of thy Heart say always with Joseph How can I do this and Sin against my good God Gen. 39.9 Neh. 6.11,13 Psal 103.25 116.12.16 Walk ever painfully in thy special Calling and in the Conscionable use of all the meanes of Grace Keep a perpetual memory of the former misery of Sin and Blessings of Righteousness Be resolv'd to chuse rather to endure any misery than to Sin against God as Joseph Daniel and the three Children did Dan. 1.8 Warily resist the first motions to any Sin James 1.5 Lust when it has conceiv'd brings forth Sin Achan tells Joshua by what degrees he came to finish his Sin Josh 7.21 I saw a Babylonish Garment then I coveted it and took it and it is hid in my Tent. Avoid every occasion of Sin as you would do of Infectious Diseases 1 Thes 5.22 Gen. 39.10 1 Thes 5.17 Eph. 6.18 But above all use Fervent Prayer to be kept by these Preservatives Of the Sabbath REmember the Sabbath before it come that thou may'st dispatch all thy own works in six days to attend the better upon the right Sanctification of the Sabbath Meddle not with any Recreation Pastime or Ordinary Work from Saturday night at eight of the Clock till Monday morning Isa 56.2,4,6 58.13.14 Now in thy Evening Devotions allow thy self so large a portion of time as may serve for some preparatory Meditations and Prayers and be not slight and uncertain but constant to thy set times and earnest in this work Now look into thy by-past Life and chiefly to thy walking with God the last Week be sure to set all strait between God and you examine thy self both by the Law and Gospel and see whether there be not some sin or miscarriage that lies unrepented of which may blast thy next day's performances if there be consider of it more particularly in its aggravations and nature reconcile thy self with God by Faith and Repentance and renewing thy Vows of walking more Conscionably after thou hast cleansed thy heart and hands Let thy Prayers be sutable to thy Condition beg fervently forgiveness of thy particular sins confessed and bewail'd together with Grace for the future against them and an increase of all other Graces which thou standest most in need of especially for a quiet setled composed mind that thou may'st attend with all thy Soul upon thy holy concerns and business likewise for inliven'd Affections that thou may'st not be dull and heartless but of a tender and melting Spirit for a pliable and yielding mind that thou may'st hear the Word with and render the obedience of Faith that the Lord would fix thy mind and make it serious inlighten it and open thy heart that thou may'st have a clear and right understanding that the Spirit would set in with the Preaching of the Word and make it effectual for the beating down of thy Corruptions and that it may be the power of God to the salvation of thy soul And lastly for the Minister that the Lord would teach him what he should teach the People and direct and inable him to declare the mind of God and make it manifest that utterance may be given unto him to speak boldly as he ought to speak and that God would Pardon his sins and frailties Earnestly endeavour to tast the sweetness of holy Exercises and to long for the enjoyment of God's Sabbaths that so thou may'st come to make them thy Delight Rise at least three hours before morning Sermon if it will stand with your Health and not hinder your fitness for Spiritual Exercises through drousiness afterwards When thou art up retire into thy Closet and having read two Chapters in the Bible betake thy self to Meditation and Prayer Consider with thy self what an impure Sinner thou art and into what an holy place thou goest to appear before the most Holy God who seeth thy Heart and knoweth all the Sins of thy Life tho' thou may'st have forgotten them and hateth all Impurity and Hypocrisie Now again examine thy self and Confess thy sins unto God earnestly praying for the pardon and forgiveness of them and so reconcile thy self with God in Christ and renew thy Vows to walk more Conscionably and especially pray that thou may'st have Grace to hear God's Word with profit and be inabled to Sanctify his holy Day not forgetting the Minister And after your private Prayer read another Chapter Be present with the first at all Publick Assemblies of the Church with cheerful Reverence and the greatest attention as before the Lord of the whole Earth Both to declare thy Love and Honour and for the good Example of others Be afraid of the least unseemly gesture or of being overtaken by sleep drowsiness or wandring thoughts 1 Cor. 12.12 Acts. 2.46 4.32 Joyn in with the Congregation in every publick Action according to