â—e than on the God above me have not I â—een intemperate at my Meals and eat and â—rank more than nature required have I afâ—â—r Dinner set my Servants to read and did I pray for them and with them Have not â— this day been guilty of some crying Sin foâ— which God might justly punish me as he diâ— the Fool in the Gospel with Death c. If upon enquiry you find you have madâ— any progress in Vertue got ground of Satan and mastered your Corruptions give Goâ— the Glory by whose Grace you overcamâ— them and return him thanks in this following Prayer PRaise the Lord O my Soul yea let all thâ—â— is within me praiseâ— his holy name praise be the Lord from the rising up of the Sun unto thâ— going down of the same thou art my God anâ— I will praise thee thou art my God and I wiâ—â— bless thee who hast preserved me this day from falling into Sin and hast kept me from tâ—â— power of the evil one for my Soul is this dâ—â— escaped as a Bird out of the Snare of the Fowleâ— the Snare is broken and I am delivered my heâ— standeth in the name of the Lord who hath maâ—â— Heaven and Earth But if upon enquiry you find that yoâ— have been guilty of many Frailties and Imperfections if you have not been so devout 〈◊〉 you ought to have been in your Prayers aâ—fect your Soul with the sense of your Sin iâ— this following Prayer AH frail weak and wicked Wretch art thou not ashamed to remain still in thy wonted negligences and tepidities to sing the same sinful Song after so many Vows Promises and purposes of better Obedience wallowest thou still in the same mire and lyest thou still snorting in the same Bed of Sensuality O horrid ingratitude if thou wert now summoned to give up thy just accounts what couldst thou answer for so much time mis-spent so many inspirations neglected and so many Graces abused thou approachest nearer Death and Eternity but recoilest backward in religious Piety and Perfection wilt thou still lye sleeping in this dangerous Lethargy is this the grateful and dutiful Service thou renderest thy Creator for having afforded thee all convenient means to repent for having so patiently expected thy Conversion and amendment Alas my Confounded Soul what will become of thee what course wilt thou steer and when and how wilt thou begin Ah sinful Wretch prodigal Child disloyal Friend sue to thy Physician return to thy Father repent thee of thy Disloyalty request Pardon Grace and Love resolve to repent for what is past and amend for the time to come and from this moment consecrate the remainder of thy Life to his Service And now O my Lord as thou hast given me Grace to frame this Resolution so give me strength and courage to put it in execution But if upon Inquiry you find you have greatly broken the Sabbath-day neglected his publick Worship relapsed into some crying Sin which without God's great Mercy will bring upon you speedy Death and Damnation affect your Soul with this Prayer O My good God Father of all Comfort and Compassion Creatour of Heaven and Earth and Redeemer of my poor Soul behold here a poor Worm prostrate at the feet of thy Divine Majesty humbly craving pardon for all the Iniquities and Impurities that I have committed against thy Divine Majesty from my Youth up until now especially those that I have this day committed against thee such a Sin especially most justly provoking thy wrathful Indignation against me the remembrance of them breeds an extreme Shame Fear and Sorrow in my now sensible penitent Soul Shame for having left an infinite Good to embrace an empty fading nothing Fear for having forsaken the Light of Heaven and the Life of Aeternity to remain in aeternal Death and Darkness Sorrow for having offended thee my God whâ— art so loving and liberal unto me Oh that my Heart could rend asunder with true Contrition and Compunction and my Eyes dissolve into a flood of Tears for having been disloyal to so faithful a Friend and disobedient to so free-hearted a Father Mercy dear Father to thy prodigal Child Mercy dear Lord to thy sinful Servant Pardon my past Faults pity my present Follies protect my future Frailties that with a clean quiet contented Soul I may strive to please and praise thee all my Life long hereafter and in the end die happily in thy Favour and Friendship O my Crucified Jesu my only Hope and Refuge bathe me in thy Blood beautifie me with thy Merits bless me with thy Grace by the Tears that issued out of thy Eyes by the Prayers that came from thy Mouth by the Blood that gushed from thy Wounds and Heart by all the Pains of thy Body and Pangs of thy Soul by all the Mercies of thy Divinity and Merits of thy Humanity by all that is dear and near unto thee in Heaven and Earth Cleanse quiet clothe comfort content my sick sinful weak and wretched Soul O thou Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the World take away the world of sins that is in me O thou that wert my Saviour upon Earth be thou my Advocate in Heaven pleading and interceding that none of these Evils my sins have deserved may fall upon my head Forget and forgive all the Crimes Ingratitudes and Impurities of my Life past and in particular whatsoever through my carelessness have escaped my memory and whatsoever my dreadful Judge may in the rigour of his Justice lay to my charge that at the end of my days I may receive the end of my hopes the Salvation of my precious and immortal Soul Grant this O Lord for Jesu Christ his sake Amen Then fail not to add to this this usual Prayer for the Evening Before thou goest to bed be sure to offer unto God thine Evening Sacrifice of Prayer and Thanksgiving This was shadowed out unto us under the Law where the Lord required his Evening Sacrifice as well as the Morning therefore much more doth he require it of us under the Gospel And truly if thou liest down in thy sins unrepented of thou mightest haply awaken with Hell-flames about thy Ears Thou mayst better and safelier sleep with a Serpent in thy Bosom than with a Sin upon thy Soul the one can only punish thee temporally the other torments thee aeternally Before ever then thou suffer the Temples of thy head to take any rest beg O Christian Brother not only Pardon of thy Sins but his Protection from all Dangers which you may do in this following Prayer ALmighty and Everlasting God I yield thee most humble and hearty thanks for that thou hast vouchsafed me of thy great Mercy and Goodness to preserve me this day from all evil and I also beseech thee for thy bitter Death and Passion most mercifully to forgive me a wretched Sinner all my Offences which I have this day committed by thought word or deed and hereafter to preserve and
endeavour by your own good Works to let your Light so shine before Men that they may see your Works and glorify your Father which is in Heaven As thou art putting on thy Apparel remember some of them were at first given as coverings of shame being the effect of Sin and that they are made of the Excrements and Offals of dead Beasts so that thou hast very little cause to be proud of them Nay indeed thou hast great cause to be humbled at the sight thereof seeing the richest Apparel are but the fine covers of the foulest shame Therefore as thou art Cloathing thy Body endeavour to Cloth thy Soul with Christ's Righteousness as with a Garment Lest while thou art richly apparelled in the sight of Men thy Soul be found to walk naked in the sight of God Before thou betakest thy Self to thy Closet breath forth thy Soul to God at thy first awaking in this or the like short Ejaculation O Lord God as thou hast awakened my Body from last Nights sleep so by thy Grace awaken my Soul from the Lethargy of Sin that at the general Resurrection I may arise to Eternal Glory Amen CHAP. III. Of Closet-Prayer and the Preparations to it HAving thus fitted thy Self for thy Closet before thou prayest take the wise Man's Counsel Ecclus 18.5.23 Prepare thy Self and be not as one that tempteth God Now for thy better preparation observe these few Rules 1. You are to remember when you settle your self in Prayer you then place your self in the presence of God whose Eyes indeed are upon all Men but in a more especial manner upon those that call upon him in Prayer 2. The consideration of his presence is to put you in mind with what humble reverence both of Soul and Body you ought to appear before so great a Majesty 3. Lay aside all wrath and malice against your Neighbour I will saith the Apostle that men lift up holy hands without wrath 1 Tim. 2.8 St. Hierom confesseth this of himself that when he was angry he durst not enter into the Church but totum animo corpore contremuisse He trembled very much both in Body and Mind The Spouse of Christ is compared to a Dove which some say is sine felle without Gall. The very Heathens when they offered Sacrifice threw the Gall of the Beast away and wilt thou offer to God the Gall of wrath bitterness and revenge with the Sacrifice of Prayer 4. Banish all Worldly thoughts out of your Heart Our Saviour when he taught us to pray by the Preface to the Petitions telleth us where our affections in Prayer should be viz. in Heaven Our Father which art in Heaven Therefore before you begin to pray you are to resolve within your self seriously to intend the Duty you are about that your heart may not wander but go along with your Prayers Or if through weakness it happens to stray to call it back again and ask Pardon for it in some such Prayer as this Lord strengthen me and restrain me and lay not this weakness to my charge Having entred thy Oratory propose these few Questions to thy Soul and engage thy self to an Answer O my Soul Wherefore art thou now retired into this place What is thy design What are thy Pretensions Where is thy God whom thou comest to treat with Is he present Doth he hear thee Is he merciful Will he help thee What is the business thou art to negotiate Is it the saving thy Soul or the satisfaction of Earthly desires What words wilt thou use to move God to hear thee What humble Gesture What profound Reverence Dost thou know who thou art before Is not Gods Eye upon all to observe Head and Heart Lip and Life Darest thou suffer thy thoughts then to wander Will he be pleased with that Sacrifice he hath accursed of drawing nigh to him with our Lips when our Hearts are far from him Answer thy self briefly to every one of these Interrogatories as thy own Conscience dictates to thee for by this Discourse made to thy self thou shalt be better prepared to discourse with God Having thus prepared thy self for Prayer thou maist then fall down on thy Knees and to thy ordinary Prayers which must not on this Day by any means be omitted add these following Heads of Prayers suitable in some measure to the solemnity of the Day 1. You are to pray for the Minister that God would give him the door of utterance that he may open his mouth boldly to publish the mysteries of the Gospel that he may speak the word truly sincerely powerfully and profitably delivering that which is sutable and seasonable to your condition 2. You are to pray for your selves that he would banish out of your Head all wandring worldly thoughts which may distract your minds in the hearing of the word and so choak that Heavenly Seed make it Fruitless and that he would give unto you as attention to hearken so Understanding to conceive Wisdom to apply Judgment to discern Faith to believe Memory to retain and Grace to practise what you shall hear So that the word may prove unto you not a Savour of Death unto Death but of Life unto Life all which you may do in this following Prayer O Lord God from whom alone are the Preparations of the heart the day is now come which being holy unto thee I am to spend in thy more solemn Worship many Sins there are by me not duly repented of which may justly bring upon me a Curse instead of a Blessing especially my crying Sins Here mention thy particular Sins which thou hast found thy Self guilty of and also the Sins committed by thee the last Week that may make my Prayer an Abomination to thee Accept O Lord this my Confession and at least desired sorrow for them turn my heart from them for the future and through the blood of my Saviour so remove the guilt of them that they may not hinder good things from me Let the effusions of thy Grace both upon me and all the Congregations of thy People be ever plentiful Let my heart be fixed that no vain or worldly thoughts harbour there while I am in thy House Quicken me with thy holy Spirit that I may draw near unto thee with a true Heart that I may be fervent in Spirit serving thee and that receiving thy word with an honest and good heart I may understand and keep it and bring forth fruit with patience and to perfection Remember thou thy Servants which are to dispence thy mysteries unto thy People and especially him upon whose teaching I wait Pardon their Sins and Frailties open their Mouths guide their Minds and Tongues that they may deliver thy truths in the demonstration of thy Spirit and let thy Work so prosper in their hands that they may both save themselves and them that hear them that both may be built up in our most holy Faith to the perfecting thy Church and Eternal Glory of thy
of this Soliloquy O my Soul Let Vzza's Death make thee careful how thou enters irreverently into God's House If we be so careful to come with clean Apparel before an Earthly Prince much more should we with clean Hearts and Souls approach our Heavenly King A Prince may not regard how his Servants go in his Kitchen but when they come into his Presence-Chamber he expects they should look to their Carriage and Words God indeed O my Soul expects more honour in our religious acts than in the ordinary actions of our Lives for in the first we directly design his honour and service and if we do not perform them seriously the greater is our Sin Think then O my Soul how choice God was in the Law about all things relating to his Worship the Tabernacle and Temple must be of the best Wood the purest Gold and the finest Linnen The Persons must be without blemish Lev. 2.17 the Sacrifice must be perfect without spot the best of the Flock the best of the Beasts the fat that covereth the inwards And what O my Soul dost thou think was the substance of these shadows but this that God will be served by holy Men in the purest and holiest manner and that we must be exact both as to our Persons and Performances Great Persons are impatient of contempt and affronts especially when offered to them in their own Houses God will sooner overlook thy forgetfulness of him in thy Trade or Travels than in the Tabernacle When thou drawest nigh to him he will be Sanctified either by thee or upon thee if thou refusest to give him glory in thy Service believe me he will get himself Glory by thy Sufferings His worship is his Presence his Face and look for his Fury if thou darest him to his Face The Waters of the Sanctuary are like the Waters given to a suspected Wife if Innocent they witness her Honesty and made her Fruitful though Barren before But if guilty they caused the Belly to swell and the thighs to rot If thou makest Godliness thy business in the Ordinances of God it will make thee fruitful if barren of good Works but if thou beest formal and perfunctory and goest thy round in religious Duties never minding the true end of them nor thy Carriage in them thy Prayer will be an abomination the word a savour of Death unto Death and the Sacrament a Seal of thy Damnation When thou comest at the Church-Door say Surely the Lord is in this place how dreadful is this place It is no other but the House of God the Gate of Heaven When you enter into the Church O my Soul where ever thou art thou art under God's Eye and therefore shouldest thou be no where prophane but now thou art in his Church thou art in his immediate Presence How holy oughtest thou to be How devout thy Behaviour We read Exod. 25.37 Moses was commanded to light up seven Lamps in his Tabernacle the place of his publick worship and why seven Lamps What was the substance of these shadows in short this that nothing shall escape his notice He seeth what uprightness and seriousness there is in thy Prayers and performances whether thou art Praying Reading Hearing or Singing and after what manner thou dost them whether slothfully or diligently His Eye is always upon thee and his Eye-lids try thy actions to reward or punish them When you view the Baptisterion or Font. Give hearty thanks unto God for your Christendom that by Holy-Baptism he hath called you to a state of Grace and Salvation through Jesus Christ and humbly beseech him that you may continue in the same to your Lives end For if you Apostatize you are guilty of an horrid Sin and must answer for it at the great and terrible day of Judgment It was a custom in the primitive times that such as were Baptized did wear a white Stole a Ceremony to signify the purity of Life the Baptized was to lead Eliodophorus after his Baptism turning a Persecutor of the Church Marilla the Minister that Baptized him in an holy indignation brought forth in publick the white Stole saying This do I keep against thy coming to Judgment to testify thy Apostasy from Christ So be thou assured O Christian that the Water with which the Minister by whom the people before whom thou wert Baptized shall rise up against thee in Judgment if thou dost not walk in newness of Life When you behold the Eleemosynary or Poor's Box. How much am I bound to the good Providence of my Heavenly Father who hath raised my condition in this World to be in the number of those that abound not of them that want since 't is more blessed to give than to receive When you view the Communion-Table say What shall I render unto the Lord for all the benefits I have received at his hands I will take the Cup of Salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord. When you view the Pulpit Remember how many good Lessons you have received thence the which not being carefully practised will rise up in judgment against you in the great Day of your Tryal resolve therefore for the future to be a doer of the word not hearer only deceiving your own Soul When you view the Church-Bible upon the Desk Remember that this is the Book of Life the sacred Code the Divine Volume the infallible Oracle of Heaven and that you are obliged to consult it with all manner of Devotion and to inform your selves thence what is the will and pleasure of the great Ruler of the World When you have meditated a while on these objects fall down on your Knees in your Pew and offer up this or such like Prayers O Lord my God! There is no mortal Man worthy to stand at thy Door much less to appear in thy Presence yet how oft have I presumed to approach to thee without that preparedness of heart without that dejection of Soul without that true and holy reverence which becometh thy Child Pardon O Lord I beseech thee pardon my irreverence in so sacred a place and distractions in my Prayers and give me grace to demean my self so reverently and zealously now I am in thy House and Service that my Prayers may come up before thee as incense and the lifting up my hands as a Morning Sacrifice Grant this for Jesus Christ's sake Amen Or OPen my Mouth my Lord and Maker to bless and praise thy Divine Majesty Cleanse my heart from all curious noxious and destructive thoughts enlighten my understanding to know thee my will to obey thee settle my attention excite my Devotion to praise thee That I may worthily reverently religiously perform this Morning-Sacrifice of Prayer through the virtue of those most pure and perfect Praises which thou O Jesu my Redeemer offeredst up on Earth to thy Eternal Father Mine may be now acceptable in thy sight Amen CHAP. VIII Of our behaviour at Church when the Minister is come unto it
many as soon as the Word is out of the Minister's Mouth to have the World in theirs The main Questions as soon as gone out of the Church are usually these What News do you hear How does Corn sell What a Crop have you upon the ground Such a Person has he not the best Corn in the Parish Poor barren Souls empty of Grace surely or your Discourses would be more savoury more seasonable more Heavenly Have you no better things to employ your Heads and Tongues about Ask rather what good Word you have heard to day How are we to provide for Eternity How strait is the Gate and narrow the Path that leadeth unto Life and how few there be that find it And alas how miserable shall I be if I miss thereof The Devil is always upon his Watch ever busy and labours continually to furnish Peoples Hearts with frothy and vain Discourse by that means to hinder the efficacy of the word and the good of many a poor Soul But alas The fourth Commandment tyes up the tongue as well as the hands Isai 51.13 not speaking thy own words The tongue is there commanded to rest from talking of Worldly matters as well as the hand from servile and Worldly Works How blame-worthy then are they who make the Lord's Day a Day of reckoning with Workmen and Servants a Day of idle talk about their Pleasures Profits or other matters As soon as you are come home before you refresh your Body enter into your Closet offer up this or such like Prayer I Do humbly and heartily thank thee O Lord Heavenly Father for that wholesome Doctrine and comfortable Instruction which this Morning I have heard out of thy holy word by the mouth of thy faithful Servant and I do heartily beseech thee that passing by my Sins and Infirmities of hearing thou wouldst so imprint the same in my memory and bless it unto me that I may believe it with my heart and practise it in my Life and Conversation Good Lord Let not the sweetness and savouriness of any bodily food which I am to receive of thy bounty put the relish and remembrance of thy Heavenly word out of my mind but grant that in feeding my Body I may feed my Soul by holy Meditation of the things I have heard and together with my bodily sustenance may call to mind the food that never perisheth And as it is thy will that I should use thy good Creatures with Wisdom and Sobriety every day So give me Grace this day especially to do so that they may not make me the more unfit to partake of the spiritual food thou hast prepared for me to the glory of thy name and the good of thy Saints and my own eternal welfare and Salvation through Jesus Christ my only Redeemer and Advocate Having finished your Prayer in the Closet depart to your Company and the necessary refreshment of your Body which this Day was not appointed to abridge you off While you are at Dinner appear chearful eating your meal in singleness of heart rejoice before God but let not your joy be by any means wanton idle vain intemperate At Dinner observe these few Rules 1. Beware of making the Lord's Day a time of Feasting your Neighbours For though it be lawful upon this day to make such Provision as shall be convenient for your own Family and for the relief of the Poor yet to make solemn Feasts upon it as is the custom of too too many whereby Servants are kept from publick Ordinances and our selves and Guests are more indisposed to the Duties of God's worship and service must needs be unlawful for though we be not forbidden upon the Lord's Day to kindle a fire for the dressing of meat yet we must take heed that we make not such a flame as shall kindle the fire of God's wrath against us 2. When you are set down to Dinner having begged God's Blessing on the food eat no more than will fit and enable you comfortably and lively to serve God If temperance be required in our Meals on the Week Day as Luke 21.34 much more on the Lord's Day Many fill their Bellies so full on this day that they are fit only to lay their drowsie heads on the Devil's Pillow of sloth and not at all in a capacity of repairing again to a spiritual repast in the House of God and to partake of his Heavenly Viands 3. Talk of God's Word sitting down and rising up Let your Hearts be heavenly and your Discourse savoury seasoned with Grace a Table without some good Discourse differs but little from a Manger One of the Fathers wrote this of the Primitive Christians that they were so holy in their Talk at the Table that one would have thought they had been at a Sermon rather than at a Supper And Luther has a large Book in Folio of the pious Expressions he used at his Table that indeed was his Pulpit where he read many profitable Lectures When therefore thou art at a full Table consider God's Mercy in feeding thee while there are so many Lazarus's that would be glad of the Crumbs that fall from the rich Man's table When thou eatest thy Bread with a good Appetite say thus to thy self If the bread be thus savory to an hungry Body how sweet how savory is that which comes down from Heaven to an hungry Soul and then pray O God give me evermore of this bread 4. Forget not God's Servants but invite the Poor to Dinner with thee that day The poor ye have always with you saith Christ and why have we this Memento think you But we should exert our Charity according to their Indigence and Necessity If we belong to Christ we are to relieve the oppressed clothe the naked and feed the hungry himself will do it though he works a Miracle for it Flesh and blood is not prone hereunto and therefore such munificence must needs argue a better and higher Principle than ordinary For as when we see the bank of a River and the ground next to it wet alone we gather that the River hath overflown there but when we see the furthest and remotest ground wet also then we know that the Rain hath done that so when we see a Man doing good to his rich Neighbors and Friends we think this proceeds but from good Nature in him but when we see him doing good also to strangers and unknown persons when feeding the poor and needy ones then we may well believe there is more than good Nature in that Man it is more than probable the Gift of Grace is there After you have eaten and drank I have now allayed the importunate craving of mine Appetite and my body is satisfied with material Food but nothing can satisfie my Soul but to behold the presence of God in Righteousness Therefore Dinner being over either respect the Word heard that day and read the Scripture or some other good Book and call your own Heart
and Family to an account for what you have read or heard and explain the same to them This is commended to us by the Practice and Example of our Lord himself who when he was come home said unto his Disciples Mat. 13.5 Have you understood all these things viz. that he had preached to the Multitude And Mark 4.34 When they were alone he expounded all things to his Disciples Whereupon one observeth That Christ by his Example doth instruct every Master of a Family how to carry himself in reference to those under his charge on the Lord's day after their departure from the publick Congregation A treble Benefit will follow hereupon 1. In respect to our selves for the more you build up others the more your selves are built up in Knowledge Faith and every Grace of God 2. In respect of your Children and Servants for it will make them to hearken more attentively to what is in publick delivered when they know they shall be called to an Account for the same at home 3. It will help much to the understanding and believing of what is heard if at home you repeat it conferr of it and examine the Proofs made use of for its Confirmation 2. Singing of Psalms is another Duty to be performed this day in our Families as well as in the Church Holy David that sweet Singer of Israel recommends it to us Psal 92. the Title of that Psalm is A Psalm or Song for the Sabbath and it begins thus It is good to give thanks unto the Lord and to sing praises unto thy name O thou most high For the manner of performing this Duty we have the Apostle's Direction in these words singing with grace in your hearts unto the Lord. 1. It must be in or with the heart that is our hearts must go with our Voices the one must be lift up as well as the other for God is a Spirit and must be worshipped in our Hearts and Spirits as well as with our Bodies Truly singing with the Voice without concurrence of the Heart and Spirit is no more pleasing to God than a sounding Brass and tinkling Cymball 2. As we must sing in the heart so with Grace in the heart i. e. we must exercise the Graces of God's Spirit as well as in praying labouring to express the same Affection in singing a Psalm as David in the penning of it If it be a Psalm of Prayers and Petitions then must our Affections be fervent if a Psalm of Praises and Thanksgiving then must our Affections be chearful Thus must the Affections of the Heart be suitable to the Quality of the Psalm 3. Another Family-Duty is Prayer for if this Duty ought to be performed every day twice at least viz. Morning and Evening then more especially on the Lord's day a day wholly dedicated to the Worship and Service of God CHAP. X. Of resorting to the Evening Sacrifice WHen it is now almost time to repair to the Evening Service call as many of your Servants as can be well spared that they may accompany you to the publick Assembly command their Bodies though you cannot their Souls And it may not be amiss but right edifying if some one Person read a Psalm suitable to the present undertaking of going to worship God such as the 84. Psal or the 119 th one or two parts of it being taken at a time as occasion shall serve to which reading all ought reverently to attend And this being done let the same Rules and Directions which were given touching going to Church in the Morning be observed in the Evening and let all as before resort to the publick worship where your carriage ought to be the same as was before directed Surely unless you and your House appear thus the second time before God you cannot be said duly to sanctify the Lord's Day but only to do it by halves And now to move you to this duty Consider you are bound in justice to God to do it Because God hath set a day not a piece of a day apart for himself and we should be more afraid to steal away God's time than to steal away Mans Goods the one is Theft but the other Sacriledge God Almighty hath consecrated to his own Service the seventh part of our time but if you come only in the Morning you give him but the 14 th part of it nay I fear too many spare him only that time which their Morning attendance takes up in our publick Assembly on the Lord's Day Now I appeal to thy own Conscience Christian Brother Whether it be a meet and fit thing that rational Persons Created by God redeemed by Christ should afford to the Worship and Service of Christ and the great Concern of their immortal Souls but two hours at the most on the Lord's day and that time perhaps spent in a formal customary cold heartless Worship of the infinitely holy and just Deity the tremendous impartial Judge both of Angels and Men. The Jews kept a whole day holy in a grateful Memory of the lesser benefit of the Creation and their Deliverance out of Aegypt and shall we grudge to spend a whole day in remembrance of our Deliverance from Hell and Death eternal We have not only greater Motives but we have greater Means they had only Moses and the Prophets but we have Christ and the Gospel they had the Shadow we the Substance And shall we that have more Means and Helps put God off with less Duty smaller Service and shorter Performances Nay the very Heathens guided by the Light of Nature gave whole Days to their Dunghill Deities and shall we Christians refuse it to a true God You give your Bodies two Meals a-day and will you feed your Souls but once It was a rational Discourse of Joseph to his Mistress Gen. 39.9 My Master hath kept nothing from me but thee because thou art his Wife how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against my God God hath kept no Days in the Week from us but only the First Day because it is his Sabbath how can we do this great Wickedness then and sin against him Nathan's Parable to David may be applied to thee O thou most prophane Sabbath-breaker Hath God only one Day which he hath kept to himself and sanctified to his Service and laid as it were in his Bosom and shall Men be so unworthy when their Hearts tempt them to Vanity even to take this day to please and gratifie their own corrupt hearts in When they are rich in time and have six days for themselves To entrench upon the Lord's Day it is something too much Nay as it is unreasonable so is it plainly contradictory to our own Prayers that day for upon every Lord's Day Morning as we make it our open Confession so likewise a publick Prayer after the reading of the Fourth Commandment Lord have mercy upon me and incline my heart to keep this Law As much as to say Lord we
AS soon as the Minister begins the publick Worship lay aside all your other Meditations and Prayers and apply your mind to attend diligently and to join devoutly in every part and passage of Divine Service considering it is the great end of your coming to Church and your business there is to serve the Lord with your Christian Brethren in publick 1. Therefore when the Minister exhorts you out of the Word of God to confess and acknowledge your Sins and Wickedness harden not your heart but with all possible humility both of Body and Soul say after the Minister in the Confession of your Sins and endeavour to let your Heart even melt and bleed in the bewailing your Offences and to this and every act of Divine Worship neglect not to say Amen For that is as it were the Seal to confirm to your Soul the benefits thereof The Hebrews have a saying that whosoever says Amen with all his might opens the Doors of Paradise 2. After Confession when the Minister comes to the words of Absolution bow down your Head and say softly in your Heart Lord let this Pardon pronounced by thy Minister be effectual to my Soul and Seal thereunto the Forgiveness of all my Sins 3. The Psalms and Hymns are to be answered Verse by Verse with the Minister that so all may join and bear a part in the Service of God for in his Temple do every Man speak of his Honour and here though you cannot read yet your Heart may join with them that do read and your Mouth also may shew forth the praise of God by saying after every Psalm Glory be to the Father adding always Amen to shew and express how affectionately you desire the Glory of God Be not silent nor ashamed publickly and audibly to make Confession of your holy Christian Faith when you are thereunto called by the Minister for this is a duty you owe both to God and Man It is an act of God's Worship and a Declaration that you hold the same Faith with all true Christians and therefore it is required of you not only with the Heart to believe unto Righteousness but with the mouth also that Confession be made unto Salvation And when the Confession of Faith is publickly pronounced do not sit and loll as if you were not concern'd at it but stand up with the rest of the Congregation to signifie and declare that you will stand to this Faith and earnestly contend for it as being the same which was once given to or by the Saints the holy Apostles I have read that it is a Custom in Poland that the Gentlemen draw their Swords all the while the Creed is a reading intimating thereby that they will defend it with their Lives and Blood Be you Christians as ready to assert and maintain your holy Faith and resolve to attest it with your dearest Blood if there be occasion If any Child be brought to Church to be Baptized sit not still as if not concerned in that Office but let it remind you of your own Vow and put up this short Prayer in behalf of the Infant Grant that all those that are to be admitted to the Fellowship of Christ's Religion and to this Infant more especially may eschew those things that are evil and follow after that which is good When any Woman comes to be Churched reflect on the Mercies that thou receivest from God to make thee thankful and with a low Voice put up this Prayer to God O Lord as thou hast delivered this Woman thy Servant from the pains of a temporal so I beseech thee to deliver both her and all here present from the pangs of an Eternal Death When you see any come to be Catechised make not light of it but after this or the like manner pray O Almighty and Everlasting God! who ever makest thy Church fruitful with a new a numerous Issue increase Faith and Vnderstanding in our newly instructed that they being born again may be joined unto the Sons of thy adoption through our Lord Jesus Christ When you hear the Banes of Matrimony published in the Church fall not into Laughter as the manner of some is for it ill becomes the Sacredness of the place and argues out irreverence to God We should show our selves better Christians by falling down on our Knees and praying at the same time for a Blessing from God on them O let us then reflect on our own Vow and Promise in Marriage how we have performed it and let us make it also an occasion of a fresh Engagement in our selves to keep it most strictly I am not of the opinion of the Papists that Marriage is a Sacrament but I look upon it as a most solemn engagement among Men and Sacred being a Vow made before God and witnessed by many and therefore a subject proper for seriousness and devotion When you sing unto God let your heart make melody Take heed that when your Voice is high your Heart be not dead flat and low 1. When the Word is read and preached mind it and say this is the Word of God 't is his Command and dare I disobey it O that my ways were made so direct that I might keep God's Statutes 2. When you hear the Curses denounced against Sinners tremble if thou beest guilty of any of the Sins 3. When you hear God's Calls and Invitations his rich Promises and Allurements say What shall I refuse them Doth God knock at them and shall not the Everlasting Doors of my Heart fly open that the King of Glory may enter in Lastly While the Minister is pronouncing the Blessing post not away a fault too common every where but hope desire and believe it shall come down upon you Remember the punishment of Judas he stayed not for the Blessing but went away and dispatched himself That you may not forfeit God's Protection and be given over by the Almighty as he was I pray stay till the Blessing be pronounced and after it is ended fall down on your Knees and offer up this short Ejaculation O Sweet Jesu bestow on me this day thy Blessing with this of the Minister preserve me from all Sin and give me perseverance in thy Service that at the last and dreadful day of Judgment I may receive that happy Benediction among thy Elected and Predestinated Children Come ye Blessed Children of my Father and inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the World CHAP. IX Of our due behaviour between Morning and Evening Service At your returning home LET your return with your Family home be with the same gravity and care as was thy passage to the Church Let your talk be rather of what you have learnt or heard than of any Worldly matters except necessary occasions enforce the contrary If any of your Neighbours talk Heavenly mind them but if their Discourse savour of the World either reprove or leave them This I mention because I perceive it the custom of