strangers as acquaintance but more particularly those to whom we have any especial Relation either publick as our Governours both in Church and State or private as Parents Husband Wife Children Friends c. We are also to pray for all that are in affliction and such particular persons as we discern especially to be so Yea we are to pray for those that have done us injury those that despightfully use us and persecute us for it is expresly the command of Christ Mat. 5 44. And that whereof he hath likewise given us the highest example in praying even for his very crucifiers Luk. 23. 34. Father forgive them For all these sorts of persons we are to pray and that for the very same good things we beg of God for our selves that God would give them in their several places and callings all spiritual and temporal blessings which he sees wanting to them and turn away from them all evil whether of sin or punishment 8. The fifth part of Prayer is Thanksgiving that is the Praising and Blessing God for all his mercies whether to our own persons and those that immediately relate to us or to the Church and Nation whereof we are members or yet more general to all mankind and this for all his mercies both spiritual and temporal In the Spiritual first for those wherein we are all in common concerned as the giving of his Son the sending of his Spirit and all those means he hath used to bring sinful men unto himself Then secondly for those mercies we have in our own particulars received such are the having been born within the pale of the Church and so brought up in Christian Religion by which we have been partakers of those precious advantages of the Word and Sacraments and so have had without any care or pains of ours the means of eternal life put into our hands But besides these there is none of us but have received other spiritual mercies from God 9. As first Gods patience and long-suffering waiting for our Repentance and not cutting us off in our sins Secondly his calls and invitations of us to that repentance not only outward in the ministry of the Word but also inward by the motions of his Spirit But then if thou be one that hath by the help of Gods grace been wrought upon by these calls and brought from a profane or worldly to a Christian course of life thou art surely in the highest degree tyed to magnifie and praise his goodness as having received from him the greatest of mercies 10. We are likewise to give thanks for Temporal blessings whether such as concern the publick as the prosperity of the Church or Nation and all remarkable deliverances afforded to either or else such as concern our particulars such are all the good things of this life which we enjoy as Health Friends Food Raiment and the like also for those minutely preservations whereby we are by Gods gracious providence kept from danger and the especial deliverances which God hath given us in time of greatest perils It will be impossible to set down the several mercies which every man receives from God because they differ in kind and degree between one man and another But it is sure that he which receives least hath yet enough to imploy his whole life in praises to God And it will be very fit for every man to consider the several passages of this life and the mercies he hath in each received and so to gather a kind of List or Catalogue of them at least the principal of them which he may alwayes have in his memory and often with a thankful heart repeat before God 11. These are the several parts of Prayer and all of them to be used both publickly and privately The publick use of them is first that in the Church where all meet to joyn in those prayers wherein they are in common concerned And this where the prayers are such as they ought to be we should be very constant at there being an especial blessing promised to the joynt requests of the faithful and he that without a necessary cause absents himself from such publick prayers cuts himself off from the Church which hath alwayes been thought so unhappy a thing that it is the greatest punishment the Governours of the Church can lay upon the worst offender and therefore it is a strange madness for men to inflict it upon themselves 12. A second sort of Publick Prayer is that in a Family where all that are members of it joyn in their common supplications and this also ought to be very carefully attended to first by the Master of the Family who is to look that there be such prayers it being as much his part thus to provide for the Souls of his Children and Servants as to provide food for their Bodies Therefore there is none even the meanest housholder but ought to take this care If either himself or any of his Family can read he may use some prayers out of some good book if it be the Service Book of the Church he makes a good choice if they cannot read it will then be necessary they should be taught without Book some form of prayer which they may use in the Family for which purpose again some of the Prayers of the Church will be very fit as being most easie for their memories by reason of their shortness and yet containing a great deal of matter But what choice soever they make of prayers let them be sure to have some and let no man that professes himself a Christian keep so heat henish a Family as not to see God be daily worshipped in it But when the Master of a Family hath done his duty in this providing it is the duty of every member of it to make use of that provision by being constant and diligent at those Family-Prayers 13. Private or secret Prayer is that which is used by a man alone apart from all others wherein we are to be more particular according to our particular needs then in publick it is fit to be And this of private Prayer is a duty which will not be excused by the performance of the other of publick They are both required and one must not be taken in exchange for the other And whoever is diligent in publick prayers and yet negligent in private it is much to be feared he rather seeks to approve himself to men then to God contrary to the command of our Saviour Mat. 6. who enjoynes this private prayer this praying to our Father in secret from whom alone we are to expect our reward and not from the vain praises of men 14. Now this duty of Prayer is to be often performed by none seldomer then Evening and Morning it being most necessary that we should thus begin and end all our works with God and that not only in respect of the duty we owe him but also in respect of
from being a provision there is such a curse goes along with an ill-gotten estate that he that leaves such a one to his child doth but cheat and deceive him makes him believe he has left him wealth but has withal put such a canker in the bowels of it that is sure to eat it out This is so common an observation that I need say nothing to confirm the truth of it would God it were as generally laid to heart as it seems to be generally taken notice of Then surely Parents would not account it a reasonable motive to unjust dealing that they may thereby provide for their children for this is not a way of providing for them nay 't is the way to spoil them of whatever they have lawfully gathered for them the least mite of unlawful gain being of the nature of leaven which sowres the whole lump bringing down curses upon all a man possesseth Let all Parents therefore satisfie themselves with such provisions for their children as God shall enable them honestly to make assuring themselves how little soever it be 't is a better portion then the greatest wealth unjustly gotten according to that of Solomon Prov. 16. 8. Better is a little with righteousness then great revenues without right 23. A fourth thing the Parent owes to the child is Good Example he is not only to set him rules of vertue and godliness but he must himself give him a pattern in his own practice we see the force of example is infinitly beyond that of precept especially where the person is one to whom we bear a reverence or with whom we have a continual conversation both which usually meet in a Parent It is therefore a most necessary care in all Parents to behave themselves so before their children that their example may be a means of winning them to vertue But alas this age affords little of this care nay so far 't is from it that there are none more frequently the instruments of corrupting children then their own Parents And indeed how can it be otherwise while men give themselves liberty to all wickedness 't is not to be hoped but that the children which observe it will imitate it the childe that sees his father drunk will sure think he may be so too as well as his father So he that hears him swear will do the like and so for all other vices and if any Parent that is thus wicked himself should happen to have so much more care of his childes Soul then his own as to forbid him the things which himself practises or correct him for the doing them 't is certain the child will account this a great injustice in his father to punish him for that which himself freely does and so he is never likely to be wrought upon by it This consideration lays a most strict tie upon all Parents to live Christianly for otherwise they do not only hazard their own Souls but those of their children also and as it were purchase an estate of inheritance in Hell 24. A fifth duty of Parents is blessing their children the way of doing that is double first by their prayer they are by daily and earnest prayers to commend them to Gods protection and blessing both for their spiritual and temporal estate and secondly by their piety they are to be such persons themselves as that a blessing may descend from them upon their posterity This is often promised in Scriptures to godly men that their seed shall be blessed Thus in the second commandment God promises to shew mercy to the thousand generation of them that love him and keep his commandments And it is very observable in the Jews that though they were a stiff-necked generation and had very grievously provoked God yet the godliness of their forefathers Abraham Isaac and Jacob did many times move God to save them from destruction on the other side we see that even good men have fared the worse for the inâ—quities of their fathers Thus when Josiah had destroyed idolatry restored Gods service and done good beyond all the Kings that were before him yet there was an old arrear of Manasseh his grand father which all this piety of his would not blot out but he resolves to cast Judah also out of his sight as you may read at large 2 Kings 23. If therefore Parents have any bowels any kindness towards their children any real desire of their prosperity let them take care by their own godly life to entail a blessing upon them 25. Sixthly Parents must take heed that they use their power over their children with equity and moderation not to oppress them with Unreasonable Commands only to exercise their own authority but in all things of weight to consider the real good of their children and to press them to nothing which may not consist with that This is a rule whereof Parents may often have use but in none greater then in the business of marrying their children wherein many that otherwise are good Parents have been to blame when out of an eagerness of bestowing them wealthily they force them to marry utterly against their own inclinations which is a great tyranny and that which frequently betrayes them to a multitude of mischiefs such as all the wealth in the world cannot repair There are two things which Parents ought especially to consider in the matching their children the first how they may live Christianly and to that purpose to chuse a vertuous and pious person to link them with the second is how they may live cheerfully and comfortably in this world and to that end though a competency of estate may be necessary to be regarded yet surely abundance is no way requisite and therefore that should not be too vehemently sought after that which much more tends to the happiness of that state is the mutual kindness and liking of the parties without which marriage is of all other the most uncomfortable condition and therefore no parent ought to thrust a child into it I have now done with the first sort of Relation that of a Parent PARTITION XV. Of Duty to our Brethren and Relations Husband wife Friends Masters Servants § 1. THe second sort of Relation is that of a Brother now brotherhood may be two fold either natural or spiritual the natural may in the largest extent contain under it all mankind all that partake of the same nature but I shall not consider it so in this place having already mentioned those gegeneral duties which belong to all as such I now speak of that natural brother-hood that is between those that are the children of the same immediate Parent and the duty of these is to have united hearts and affections This nature points out to them they partaking in a more especial manner of each others substance and therefore ought to have the greatest tenderness and kindness each to other thus we see Abraham make it an argument why there
Assertory Oathes Promissory Vnlawful Oaths God greatly dishonoured by Perjury The punishments of it Vain Oaths The sin of them They lead to Perjury No temptation to them Necessity of abstaining from them Means for it Sense of the guilt and danger Truth in speaking Forsaking the occasioâ— Reverence of God â—atchfulâ—â—ss Prayer What it is to honâ—r Gods Name WORSHIP Prayer its parts Confession Petitions For our Souls Bodies Deprecation Of Sin Of Punishment Intercession Thanksgiving Spiritual Mercies Temporal Publick prayer in the Church In the Family Private Prayer Frequency in Prayer The advantages of Prayer Honour Benefit Pleasantness Carnality one reason of its seeming otherwise Want of use another To ask nothing unlawful To ask in Faith In humility With attention Helps against wandring Consideration of Gods Majesty Our needs Prayer for Gods aid Watchfulness With Zeal With purity To right ends Bodily Worship REPENTANCE A turning from sin to God Times for this Duty Daily At set times In the time of affliction At death The danger of deferring it till then The disadvantages of a death bed repentance The custom of sin Bodily pains Danger of unsincerity Fasting Fasting a revenge upon ourselvs Such revenges acceptable with God Yet no satisfaction for sins Times of fasting Second Branch of our Duty to God Inward Idolatry Duty to our SELVES Humility The great sin of Pride The danger Drawing into other sins Frustrating of remedies Betraying to punishment The Folly In respect of the goods of Nature The goods â—â— Fortune The goods of grace Means of Humility Vain glory The sin The danger The Folly Helps against vain-glory MEEKNES Advantages fit Means of obtaining it CONSIDERATION Of our State The Rule by which to try our State The danger of Inconsideration Our Actions Before we do them After they are done â—requency of â—onsideraâ—â—â—n Danger of omitting it CONTENTEDNES â—ontrary to â—â—rmuring To Ambition To Covetousness Covetousness contrary to our duty to God To our Selves To our neighbours Contentedness contrary to envy Helps to conâ—edness DILIGENCE Watchfulness against sin Industry in improving gifts Of Nature Of Grace To improve good motions The danger of the contrary CHASTITY Uncleanness forbidden in the very lowest degrees The mischiefs of it To the Soul To the Body The Judgements of God a gainst it It shuts out from Heavâ— Helps to Chastity TEMPERANCE In Eating Ends of eating Preserving of life Of Health Rules of Temperance in Eating Means of it Temperance in Drinking False ends of drinking Good Fellowship Preserving of kindness Chearing the spirits Putting away cares Preventing reproach Pleasure of the drink Bargaining Degrees of this sin The great guilt of the strong drinkers The great mischiefs of this sin Exhortation to forsake it The difficulties of doing â—o considered Seeming â—â—â—essity of drink Want of imployment Perswasions and reproaches of men The means of resisting them Weigh the advantages with the hurt Reject the temptation at the very beginning The security of doing so The esficacy of these means if not hindred by love of the sin That love makes men loth to believe it dangerous Sleep The rule of Temperance therein The many Sins that follow the transgression of it Other mischiefs of sloth Temperance in Recreation Cautions to be observed in them Unlue End of Sports Temperance in Apparel Apparel designed for covering of shame Fencing from cold Distinction of persons Too much sparing a â—ault as well as excess DUTY to our NEIGHBOUR JUSTICE Negative To the Soul In the natural sence In the spiritual Drawing to in the greatest injury Direct means of it Indirect Men sadly to consider whom they have thus injured Heartily to bewail it Endeavour to repair it Negative justice to the body In respect of the life Several wayes of being guilty of murder The hainousness of the sin The great punishments attending it The strange discoveries of it We must watch diligently against all approaches of this sin Maiming a great injury That which every man dreads for himself Yet worse if the man be poor Necessity of making what satisfaction we can Wounds and stripes injuries also This cruelty to others the effect of pride His Possession His Wife The enticing a mans wife the greatest injustice To the woman To the man The most irreparable His goods Malicious injustice Covetous injustice Oppression Gods vengeance against it Theft Not paying what we borrow What we are bound for What we have promised Stealing the goods of our neighbour Deceit In Trust. In Traffick The sellers concealing the faults of his ware His over-rating it Fraud in the Buyer Many temptations to deceit in Traffick The commonness of injustice a reproach to Christianity It is not the way to enrich a man It ruines the Soul eternally The necessity of Restitution His credit False witnes Publick slanders Whispering Several steps toward this sin Despising and scoffing For infirmities For calamities For sins Destroying the credit a great injury And irrepairable Yet every guilty person must do all he can to repair the injury Justice in the thoughts Positive Justice Speaking Truth a due to all men Lying expresly forbidden in Scripture The great commonness and folly of this sin Courteous behaviour a due to all men Not payed by the proud man Meekness a due to all men Brauling very insufferable It leads to that great sin of cursing Particular dues A respect due to men of extraordinary gifts We are not to envy them Nor detract from them The folly of both those sins A respect due to men in regard of their ranks and qualities Dues to those that are in any sort of want To the poor God withdraws those abilities which are not thus imployed Duties inspect of relation Gratitude to Benefactors The contrary too common Duty to Parents Duties to the Supream Magistrate Honour Tribute Prayers for them Obedience Duties to our Pastors Love Esteem Maintenance Obedience Prayers for them Duties to our natural Parents Reverence Love Obedience Especially in their Marriage Ministring to their wants Duty to be paid even to the worst of Parents Duty of Parents to Children To nourish them Bring them to Baptism Educate them Means towards the education of children The parent to watch over their souls even when they are grown up To provide for their subsistence To give them good example To bless them To give no unreasonable commands Dues to Brethren Natural The necessity of Love among Brethren Spiritual brotherhood Our duty to hold communion with these brethren To bear with their infirmities To restore them after falls To sympathize with them The wife owes to the husband obedience Fideâ—ty Love The faults of the husband acquits not from these duties The Husband owes â—o the Wife love Faithfulness Maintenance Instruction Husbands and Wives mutually to pray for and â—ssist each â—ther in all good The vertue of the person the chief consideration in Marriage Unlawful Marriages Friendship Its duties Faithfulness Assistance Admonition Prayer Constancy Servants owe to their Masters obedience Fidelity Submission to rebuke Diligence Masters owe to their Servants Justice Admonition Good example Means of Instruction Moderation in Command Encouragement in well doing Charity In the Affections To mens Souls To their Bodies Goods and Credit Effects of this Charity It casts ouâ— Envy Pride ensoriousss Dissembling Self-seeking Revenge This charity io be extended even to enemies Motives thereunto Command of Christ. Example of God The disproportion between our ofâ—ences against God and mens against us Pleasantness of this Duty â—f we forâ—ive not â—od will â—ot forgive â—s Gratitude â—o God â—e first â—ng of â—ncour to supprest Charity in the Actions Towards the mind of our Neighbour His Soul Charity in respect of the Body Charity in respect of the Goods Towards the rich Towards the Poor Motives of Alms giving Manner of Alms-giving Cheerfully The fear of â—mpoverish â—ng our â—lves by it â—ain and â—pious Give seasonably Prudently Charity in respect of the Credit The acts of Charity in some respects acts of Justice also The great rule of Charity Peace making He that undertake it must be peaceable himself Of going to Law This charity of the actions must reach to enemies Self-love an hindrance to this Charity Prayer â— means to procure it Christian duties both possible and pleasant Even when they expose us to outward sufferings The danger of delaying our turning to God Sunday I. Sunday II. Sunday III. Sunday IV. Sunday V. Sunday VI. Sunday VII â—unday VIII â—unday IX â—unday X. Sunday XI Sunday XII Sunday XIII Sunday XIV Sunday XV. Sunday XVI Sunday XVII
Heaven He sits on the right hand of God and makes Request for us Romans 8. 34. Our Duty herein is not to resist this unspeakable blessing of his but to be willing to be thus Blest in the being turned from our sins and not to make void and fruitless all his Prayers and Intercessions for us which will never prevail for us whilest we continue in them 21. The third thing that Christ was to do for us was to Enable us or give us Strength to do what God requires of us This he doth first by taking off from the hardness of the Law given to Adam which was never to commit the least sin upon pain of damnation and requiring of us only an honest and hearty endeavour to do what we are able and where we fail accepting of Sincere Repentance Secondly By sending his Holy Spirit into our hearts to govern and Rule us to give us strength to overcome Temptations to Sin and to Do all that He now under the Gospel requires of us And in this He is our KING it being the Office of a King to govern and Rule and to subdue enemies Our Duty in this particular is to give up our selves obedient subjects of his to be governed and Ruled by him to obey all his Laws not to take part with any Rebel that is not to cherish any one sin but diligently to Pray for his Grace to enable us to subdue all and then carefully to make use of it to that purpose 22. Lastly He has purchased for all that faithfully obey him an Eternal glorious inheritance the Kingdom of Heaven whither he is gone before to take possession for us Our duty herein is to be exceeding careful that we forfeit not our parts in it which we shall certainly do if we continue impenitent in any sin Secondly not to fasten our Affections on this world but to raise them according to the precept of the Apostle Col. 3. 2. Set your affections on things above and not on things on the earth continually longing to come to the possession of that blessed inheritance of ours in comparison whereof all things here below should seem vile and mean to us 23. This is the Sum of that SECOND COVENANT we are now under wherein you see what Christ has done how he Executes those Three Great Offices of KING PRIEST and PROPHET as also what is Required of us without our Faithful Performance all that he hath done shall never stand us in any stead for he will never be a Priest to Save any who take him not as well for their Prophet to Teach and their King to Rule them nay if we neglect our part of this Covenant our condition will be yet worse then if it had never bin made for we shall then be to Answer not for the breach of Law only as in the first but for the abuse of mercy which is of all sins the most provoking On the other side if we faithfully Perform it that is set our selves heartily to the obeying of every precept of Christ not going on wilfully in any one sin but bewailing and forsaking whatever we have formerly been guilty of it is then most certain that all the fore-mentioned benefits of Christ belongs to us 24. And now you see how little Reason you have to cast off the CARE of your SOULS upon a conceit they are past cure for that it is plain they are not Nay certainly they are in that very condition which of all others makes them fittest for our care If they had not been thus REDEEMED by CHRIST they had been then so hopeless that care would have been in vain on ther other side if his Redemption had been such that all men should be saved by it though they Live as they list We should have thought it needless to take care for them because they were safe without it But it hath pleased God so to order it that our care must be the means by which they must Receive the good even of all that Christ hath done for them 25. And now if after all that God hath done to Save these Souls of ours we will not bestow a little Care on them our selves we very well deserve to perish If a Physician should undertake a patient that were in some desperate disease and by his skill bring him so far out of it that he were sure to recover if he would but take care of himself and observe those rules the Physician set him would you not think that man weary of his life that would refuse to do that So certainly that man is weary of his soul wilfully casts it away that will not consent to those easie conditions by which he may save it 26. You see how great kindness God hath to these Souls of ours the whole TRINITY Father Son and Holy Ghost have all done their parts for them The FATHER gave his only Son the SON gave Himself left his glory and endured the bitter death of the Cross meerly to keep our Souls from perishing The HOLY GHOST is become as it were our attendant waits upon us with Continual offers of his grace to Enable us to do that which may preserve them Nay he is so desirous we should accept those Offers of his that he is said to be grieved when we refuse them Ephes. 4. 30. Now what greater disgrace and affront can we put upon God then to despise what he thus values that those Souls of ours which Christ thought worthy every drop of his blood we should not think worth any part of our Care We use in things of the world to rate them according to the opinion of those who are best skilled in them now certainly God who made our Souls best knowes the worth of them and since he prizes them so high let us if it be but in reverence to him be ashamed to neglect them Especially now that they are in so hopeful a condition that nothing but our own carelesness can possibly destroy them 27. I have now briefly gone over those Foure Motives of care I at first proposed which are each of them such as never misses to stir it up towards the things of this World and I have also shewed you how much more Reasonable nay Necessary it is they should do the like for the Soul And now what can I say more but conclude in the words of Isaiah 46. 8. Remember this and shew your selves men That is deal with your Soul as your Reason teaches you to do with all other things that concern you And sure this common Justice bindes you to for the Soul is that which furnishes you with that Reason which you exercise in all your worldly business and shall the Soul it self receive no Benefit from that Reason which it affords you This is as if the Master of a Family who provides food for his servants should by them be kept from Eating any himself and so remain the only starved creature in his house 28. And as Justice
our selves who can never be either prosperous or safe but by committing our selves to him and therefore should tremble to venture on the perils either of day or night without his safeguard How much oftner this duty is to be performed must be judged according to the business or leisure men have where by businesse I mean not such business as men unprofitably make to themselves but the necessary businesse of a mans Calling which with some will not afford them much time for set and solemn Prayer But even these men may often in a day lift up their hearts to God in some short Prayers even whilest they are at their work As for those that have more leisure they are in all reason to bestow more time upon this duty And let no man that can finde time to bestow upon his vanities nay perhaps his sins say he wants leisure for prayer but let him now endeavour to redeem what he hath mis-spent by imploying more of that leisure in this duty for the future And surely if we did but rightly weigh how much it is our own advantage to perform this duty we should think it wisdom to be as frequent as we are ordinarily seldom in it 15. For first it is a great Honour for us poor worms of the earth to be allowed to speak so freely to the Majestie of heaven If a King should but vouchsafe to let one of his meanest Subjects talk familiarly and freely with him it would be looked on as a huge honour that man how despiseable soever he were before would then be the envy of all his neighbours and there is little question he would be willing to take all opportunities of receiving so great a grace But alas this is nothing to the honour is offered us who are allowed nay invited to speak to and converse with the King of Kings and therefore how forward should we in all reason be to it 16. Secondly It is a great Benefit even the greatest that can be imagned for Prayer is the instrument of fetching down all good things to us whether spiritual or temporal no prayer that is qualified as it ought to be but is sure to bring down a blessing according to that of the wise man Eccles. 35. 17. The Prayer of the humble pierceth the clouds and will not turn away till the highest regard it You would think him a happy man that had one certain means of helping him to whatever he wanted though it were to cost him much pains and labour now this happy man thou mayest be if thou wilt Prayer is the never-failing means of bringing thee if not all that thou thinkest thou wantest yet all that indeed thou dost that is all that God sees fit for thee And therefore be there never so much weariness to thy flesh in the duty yet considering in what continual want thou standest of something or other from God it is madness to let that uneasiness dishearten thee and keep thee from this so sure means of supplying thy wants 17. But in the third place this duty is in it self so far from being uneasie that it is very pleasant God is the fountain of happiness and at his right hand are pleasures for evermore Psalm 16. 11. And therefore the nearer we draw to him the happier we must needs be the very joyes of heaven arising from our neerness to God Now in this life we have no way of drawing so neer to him as by this of Prayer and therefore surely it is that which in it self is apt to afford abundance of delight and pleasure if it seem otherwise to us it is from some distemper of our own hearts which like a sick palate cannot relish the most pleasant meat Prayer is a pleasant duty but it is withal a spiritual one and therefore if thy heart be carnal if that be set either on the contrary pleasures of the flesh or dross of the world no marvail then if thou taste no pleasantness in it if like the Israelites thou despise Mannâ— whilest thou longest after the flesh pots of Egypt Therefore if thou finde a weariness in this duty suspect thy self purge and refine thy heart from the love of all sin and endeavour to put it into a heavenly and spiritual frame and then thou wilt find this no unpleasant exercise but full of delight and satisfaction In the mean time complain not of the hardness of the duty but of the unto wardness of thy own heart 18. But there may also be another reason of its seeming unpleasant to us and that is want of Use. You know there are many things which seem uneasie at the first tryal which yet after we are accustomed to them seem very delightful and if this be thy case then thou knowest a ready cure viz. to use it oftner and so this consideration naturally inforces the exhortation of being frequent in this duty 19. But we are not only to consider how often but how well we perform it Now to do it well we are to respect first the matter of our Prayers to look that we ask nothing that is unlawful as revenge upon our eneâ—ies or the like secondly the manner and that must be first in faith we must believe that if we ask as we ought God will either give us the thing we ask for or else something which he sees better for us And then secondly in humility we must acknowledge our selves utterly unworthy of any of those good things we beg for and therefore sue for them only for Christs sake thirdly with attention we must minde what we are about and not suffer our selves to be carried away to the thought of other things I told you at the first that Prayer was the business of the soul but if our mindes be wandering it is the work onely of the tongue and lips which make it in Gods account no better then vain babling and so will never bring a blessing on us Nay as Jacob said to his mother Gen. 27. 12. It will be more likely to bring a curse on us then a blessing for it is a profaning one of the most solemn parts of Gods service it is a piece of Hypocrisie the drawing neer to him with our lip when our hearts are far from him and a great slighting and despising that dreadful Majesty we come before And as to our selves it is a most ridiculous folly that we who come to God upon such weighty errands as are all the concernments of our souls and bodies should in the midst forget our business and pursue every the lightest thing that either our own vain fancies or the Devil whose business it is here to hinder us can offer to us It is just as if a Malâ—factor that comes to sue for his life to the King should in the midst of his supplication happen to espie a Butter flie and then should leave his suit and run a chace after that Butterflie
is the common Father of all those that are under his authority The duty we owe to this Parent is first Honour and Reverence looking on him as upon one on whom god hath stamped much of his own power and authority and therefore paying him all honour and esteem never daring upon any pretence whatsoever to speak evil of the Ruler of our people Acts 23. 5. 3. Secondly Paying Tribute This is expresly commanded by the Apostle Rom. 13. 6. Pay ye Tribute also for they are Gods Ministers attending continually upon this very thing God has set them apart as Ministers for the common good of the people and therefore 't is all justice they should be maintained and supported by them And indeed when it is considered what are the cares and troubles of that high calling how many thorns are platted in every Crown we have very little reason to envie them these dues and it may truly be said there is none of their poor labouring subjects that earns their living so hardly 4. Thirdly We are to pray for them this is also expresly commanded by the Apostle 1 Tim. 2. 2. to be done for Kings and for all that are in authority The businesses of that calling are so weighty the dangers and hazards of it so great that they of all others need prayers for Gods direction assistance and blessing and the prayers that are thus poured out for them will return into our own bosomes for the blessings they receive from God tend to the good of the people to their living a quiet and peaceable life as it is in the close of the verse forementioned 5. Fourthly We are to pay them Obedience This is likewise strictly charged by the Apostle 1 Peter 2. 13. Submit your selves to every ordinance of man for the Lords sake whether it be to the King as Supream or unto Governours as those that are sent by him We owe such an obedience to the supream power that whoever is authorized by him we are â—o submit to and S. Paul likewise is most full to this purpose Romans 13. 1. Let every soul be subject to the higher powers And again Ver. 2. Whâ—soever resisteth the powers resisteth the Ordinance of God And 't is observable that these precepts were given at a time when those powers were Heathens and cruel persecutors of Christianity to shew us that no pretence of the wickedness of our Rulers can free us of this duty An obedience we must pay either Active or Passive the Active in the case of all lawful commands That is when ever the Magistrate commands something which is not contrary to some command of God we are then bound to act according to that command of the Magistrate to do the things he requires But when he enjoyns any thing contrary to what God hath commanded we are not then to pay him this active obedience we may nay we must refuse thus to act yet here we must be very well assured that the thing is so contrary and not pretend conscience for a cloak of stubbornness we are in that case to obey God rather then man But even this is a season for the Passive obedience we must patiently suffer what he inflicts on us for such refusal and not to secure our selves rise up against him For who can stretch his hand against the Lords anointed and be guiltless sayes David to Abishai 1 Samuel 26. 9. and that at a time when David was under a great persecution from Saul nay had also the assurance of the Kingdom after him and St. Pauls sentence in this case is most heavie Rom. 13. 2. They that resist shall receive to themselves damnation Here is very small encouragement to any to rise up against the lawful Magistrate for though they should so far prosper here as to secure themselves from him by this means yet there is a King of Kings from whom no power can shelter them and this damnation in the close will prove a sad prize of their victories What is on the other side the duty of the Magistrate to the people will be vain to mention here none of that rank being like to read this Treatise and it being very useless for the people to inquire what is the duty of their Supream wherein the most are already much better read then in their own it may suffice them to know that whatsoever his duty is or however performed he is accountable to none but God and no failing of his part can warrant them to fail of theirs 6. The second sort of Parents are the spiritual That is the Ministers of the Word whether such as be Governours in the Church or others under them who are to perform the same offices to our Souls that our natural parents do to our bodies Thus S. Paul tells the Coâ—inthians that in Christ Jesus he had begotten them through the Gospel 1 Cor. 4. 15. and the Galatians Chap. 4. 19. that he travels in birth of them till Christ be formed in them And again 1 Cor. 3. 2. He had fed them with Milk that is such Doctrines as were agreeable to that infant state of Christianity they were then in but he had stronger meat for them of full age Heb. 5. 14. All these are the Offices of a Parent and therefore they that perform them to us may well be accounted as such 7. Our duty to these is first to love them to bear them that kindness which belongs to those who do us the greatest benefits This is required by S. Paul 1 Thess. 5. 13. I beseech you brethren mark them which labour among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you and esteem them very highly in love for their works sake The work is such as ought in all reason to procure them love it being of the highest advantage to us 8. Secondly 'T is our duty to value and esteem them as we see in the text now mentioned and surely this is most reasonable if we consider either the nature of their work or who it is that imployes them The nature of their work is of all others the most excellent we use to value other professions proportionably to the dignity and worth of the things they deal in Now surely there is no Merchandize of equal worth with a Soul and this is their Traffick rescuing precious Souls from perdition And if we consider further who it is that imployes them it yet addes to the reverence due to them They are Ambassadours for Christ 2 Cor. 5. 20. and Ambassadours are by the Lawes of all Nations to be used with a respect answerable to the quality of those that send them Therefore Christ tells his disciples when he sends them out to preach He that despiseth you despiseth me and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me Luke 10. 16. It seems there is more depends on the despising of Ministers then men ordinarily consider 't is the despising of God and Christ
be such as becometh the Gospel of Christ that his Name be no longer blasphemed among the Heathens through us O Blessed Lord how long shall Christendom continue the vilest part of the world a sink of all those abominable pollutions which even Barbarians detest O let not our Profession and our Practice be always at so wide a distance Let not the Disciples of the holy and Immaculate Jesus be of all others the most profane and impure Let not the subjects of the Prince of Peace be of all others the most contentious and bloody but make us Christians in deed as well as in name that we may walk worthy of that Holy vocation wherewith we are called and may all with one mind and one mouth glorifie thee the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Have mercy on this languishing Church look down from heaven the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory where is thy zeal and thy strength the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies towards us Are they restrained Be not wroth very sore O Lord neither remember iniquity for ever but though our backslidings are many and we have grievously rebelled yet according to all thy goodness let thy anger and thy fury be turned away and cause thy face to shine upon thy Sanctuary which is desolate for the Lords sake and so separate between us and our sins that they may no longer separate between us and our God Save and defend all Christian Kings Princes and Governours especially those to whom we owe subjection plead thou their cause O Lord against those that strive with them and fight thou against those that fight against them and so guide and assist them in the discharge of that office whereunto thou hast appointed them that under them we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty Bless them that wait at thine Altar open thou their lips that their mouth may shew forth thy praise O let not the lights of the world be put under bushels but place them in their Candlesticks that they may give light to all that are in the house Let not Jerohoams Priests profane thy Service but let the seed of Aaron still minister before thee And O thou Father of mercies and God of all comfort succour and relieve all that are in affliction deliver the out-cast and poor help them to right that suffer wrong let the sorrowful sighing of the prisoners come before thee and according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die grant ease to those that are in pain supplies to those that suffer want give to all presumptuous sinners a sense of their sins and to all despairing a sight of thy mercies and do thou O Lord for every one abundantly above what they can ask or think Forgive my enemies persecutors and slanderers and turn their hearts Powre down thy blessings on all my friends and benefactors all who have commended themselves to my Prayer Here thou mayest name particular persons And grant O merciful Father that through this blood of the Cross we may all be presented pure and unblameable and unreproveable in thy sight that so we may be admitted into that place of purity where no unclean thing can enter there to sing eternal praises to Father Son and holy Ghost for ever A Prayer in times of common Persecution O BLESSED Saviour who hast made the Cross the badge of thy Disciples enable me I beseech thee willingly and chearfully to embrace it thou seest O Lord I am fallen into days wherein he that departeth from evil maketh himself a Prey O make me so readily to expose all my outward concernments when my obedience to thee requireth it that what falls as a Prey to men may by thee be accepted as a Sacrifice to God Lord preserve me so by thy grace that I never suffer as an evil doer and then O Lord if it be my lot to suffer as a Christian let me not be ashamed but rejoyce that I am counted worthy to suffer for thy Name O thou who for my sake enduredst the cross and despisedst the shame let the example of that love and patience prevail against all the tremblings of my corrupt heart that no terrors may ever be able to shake my constancy but that how long soever thou shalt permit the rod of the wicked to lye on my back I may never put my hand unto wickedness Lord thou knowest whereof I am made thou remembrest that I am but flesh and flesh O Lord shrinks at the approach of any thing grievous It is thy Spirit thy Spirit alone that can uphold me O stablish me with thy free Spirit that I be not weary and faint in my mind And by how much the greater thou discernest my weakness so much the more do thou shew forth thy power in me and make me O Lord in all temptations stedfastly to look to thee the author and finisher of my faith that so I may run the race which is set before me and resist even unto blood striving against sin O dear Jesus hear me and though Satan desire to have me that he may winnow me as wheat yet do thou O blessed Mediator pray for me that my faith fail not but that though it be tryed with fire it may be found unto praise and glory and honour at thy appearing And O Lord I beseech thee grant that I may preserve not only constancy towards God but charity also towards men even those whom thou shalt permit to be the instruments of my sufferings Lord let me not fail to imitate that admirable meekness of thine in loving and praying for my greatest persecutors and do thou O Lord overcome all their evil with thy infinite goodness turn their hearts and draw them powerfully to thy self and at last receive both me and mine enemies into those mansions of peace and rest where thou reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost one God for ever A Prayer in time of affliction O JUST and holy Lord who with rebukes dost chasten man for sin I desire unseignedly to humble my self under thy mighty hand which now lies heavy upon me I heartily acknowledg O Lord that all I do all I can suffer is but the due reward of my deeds and therefore in thy severest inflictions I must still say Righteous art thou O Lord and upright are thy judgements But O Lord I beseech thee in judgement remember mercy and though my sins have inforced thee to strike yet consider my weakness and let not thy stripes be more heavy or more lasting then thou seest profitable for my soul correct me but with the chastisement of a father not with the wounds of an enemy though thou take not off thy rod yet take away thine anger Lord do not abhor my soul nor cast thy servant away in displeasure but pardon my sins I beseech thee if yet in thy fatherly wisdome thou see fit to prolong thy corrections
mouth let it be an occasion of raising up thy thoughts to him But by no means permit thy self to use it in idle by-words or the like If thou doest accustome thy self to pay this reverence to the bare mention of his name it will be an excellent fence against the prophaning it in oaths 14. A fifth means is a diligent and constant watch over thy self that thou thus offend not with thy tongue without which all the former will come to nothing And the last means is prayer which must be added to all thy endeavours therefore pray earnestly that God will enable thee to overcome this wicked custom say with the Psalmist Set a watch O Lord over my mouth and keep the door of my lips and if thou doest sincerely set thy self to the use of means for it thou mayest be assured God will not be wanting in his assistance I have been the longer on this because it is so reigning a sin God in his mercy give all that are guilty of it a true sight of the hainousness of it 15. By these several ways of dishonouring Gods Name you may understand what is the duty of honouring it viz. A strict abstaining from every one of these and that abstinence founded on an awful respect and reverence to that sacred Name which is Great Wonderful and Holy Psa. 99. 3. I have now past through the several branches of that great duty of Honouring of God PARTITION V. Of WORSHIP due to Gods Name Of PRAYER and its several parts Of publick Prayers in the CHURCH in the FAMILY Of PRIVATE PRAYER Of REPENTANCE c. Of FASTING § 1. THe Eighth Duty we owe to God is WORSHIP This is that great duty by which especially we acknowledge his Godhead Worship being proper only to God and therefore it is to be lookt on as a most weighty duty This is to be performed first by our Souls secondly by our Bodies The Souls part is Praying Now prayer is a speaking to God and there are divers parts of it according to the different things about which we speak 2. As first There is Confession that is the acknowledging our sins to God And this may be either general or particular the general is when we only confess in gross that we are sinful the particular when we mention the several sorts and acts of our sins The former is necessary to be always a part of our solemn prayers whether publick or private The latter is proper for private prayer and there the oftner it is used the better yea even in our daily private prayer it will be fit constantly to remember some of our greatest and foulest sins though never so long since past For such we should never think sufficiently confest and bewailed And this bewailing must always go along with Confession we must be heartily sorry for the sins we confess and from our souls acknowledge our own great unworthiness in having committed them For our confession is not intended to instruct God who knows our sins much better then our selves do but it is to humble our selves and therefore we must not think we have confest aright till that be done 3. The second part of prayer is Petition that is the begging of God whatsoever we want either for our Souls or Bodies For our Souls we must first beg pardon of sins and that for the sake of Jesus Christ who shed his blood to obtain it Then we must also beg the grace and assistance of Gods Spirit to enable us to forsake our sins and to walk in obedience to him And herein it will be needful particularly to beg all the several vertues as Faith Love Zeal Purity Repentance and the like but especially those which thou most wantest And therefore observe what thy wants are and if thou beest proud be most instant in praying for humility if lustful for chastity and so for all other Graces according as thou findest thy needs And in all these things that concern thy Soul be very earnest and importunate take no denial from God nor give over though thou do not presently obtain what thou suest for But if thou hast never so long prayed for a grace and yet findest it not do not grow weary of praying but rather search what the cause may be which makes thy prayer so ineffectual see if thou do not thy self hinder them perhaps thou prayest to God to enable thee to conquer some sin and yet never goest about to fight against it never makest any resistance but yieldest to it as often as it comes nay puttest thy self in its way in the road of all temptations If it be thus no wonder though thy prayers avail not for thou wilt not let them Therefore amend this and set to the doing of thy part sincerely and then thou needest not fear but God will do his 4. Secondly We are to petition also for our bodies that is we are to ask of God such necessaries of life as are needful to us while we live here But these only in such a degree and measure as his wisdom sees best for us we must not presume to be our own carvers and pray for all that wealth or greatness which our own vain hearts may perhaps desire but only for such a condition in respect of outward things as he sees may most tend to those great ends of our living here the gloryfying him and the saving of our own Souls 5. A third part of Prayer is Deprecation that is when we pray to God to turn away some evil from us Now this evil may be either the evil of sin or the evil of punishment The evil of sin is that we are especially to pray against most earnestly begging of God That he will by the power of his grace preserve us from falling into sin And whatever sins they are to which thou knowest thy self most inclined there be particularly earnest with God to preserve thee from them This is to be done daily but then more especially when we are under any present temptation and in danger of falling into any sin in which case we have reason to cry out as S. Peter did when he found himself sinking Save Lord or I perish humbly beseeching him either to withdraw the temptation or strengthen us to withstand it neither of which we can do for our selves 6. Secondly We are likewise to Pray against the evil of Punishment but principally against Spiritual punishments as the anger of God the withdrawing of his grace and eternal damnation Against these we can never pray with too much earnestness But we may also pray against temporal punishments that is any outward affliction but this with submission to Gods will according to the example of Christ Mat. 26. 39. Not as I will but as thou wilt 7. A Fourth part of Prayer is Intercession that is praying for others This in general we are to do for all mankind as well