I love them how can I manifest it better then by commending them to God in prayer Should I leave them thousands of silver and gold if I were able it would not all amount to the price of one fervent prayer My riches might wrong them through the deceitfulness of their hearts and cause them to be contented short of Heaven but my prayers cannot prejudice them but may much further their eternal welfares Men whose natures are crabbed and cruel have granted the requests of their dying children when they have been contrary to their own humours How much more will God the Father of mercies whose nature is Love whose bowels are infinite satisfie the desire of his dying children when they fall in with his own design and desire If Joab had hopes to speed in his supplication for Absolom because he knew the Kings heart was more for it then his own may not I be confident to speed when I beg that he would pay my debts in spirituals with interest to those who have bestowed carnals on me for his sake when I ask that my Children and Relations may love and fear and worship his Majesty and be his workmanship created in Christ Iesus unto good works and when I intreat that he would accomplish all the great and good things which he hath promised to his Church the purchase of his Christ knowing that his heart is infinitely more for these things then mine can be Lord when I dye I shall no more put up prayers for my self or other particular persons My natural obligations to my Kindred and Relations my civil ingagements to my Friends and Benefactours besides my spiritual bonds to them and thy whole Israel may well provoke me to be fervent and instant with thy Majesty at such an hour on their behalves My Redeemer before his death wrought hard at this duty He offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears Ah how should I pray for my self and others when I am taking my leave of prayer O let thy spirit of supplication be so poured down on me that I may poure out my spirit in supplication unto theeâ— for my own and others souls through thy Son with the greatest success I Wish that the night of my death may shine gloriously with the sparkling stars of divine and heavenly graces In particular I desire that when the time of my combat with my last enemy and my last combat with any enemy shall come I may above all take the shield of Faith whereby I shall be sheltered against the sting of death and quench the fiery darts of the wicked one The wise Mariner perceiving a storm approaching makes hast to fasten his Vessel with Anchors that it may be steady and not altogether at the mercy of the winds I must expect the greatest tempest when I am entering into my eternal Haven then all the powers of darkness will conjure up their strongest winds if possible to shipwrack the vessel of my soul Ah how much doth it concern me to put forth this grace the anchor of my soul both sure and stedfast and which entereth into that within the vail and thereby to fasten on the rock of Ages If I fail in this I fall I miscarry for ever God is a severe judge to condemn all guilty Malefactours Without his Son I am cloathed with guilt and so under his boundless wrath When Adam had disrobed himself of original righteousness by disobeying the law he fled from God and dreaded the summons of offended justice There is no appearing in the Fathers sight with acceptance but in the garments of his Son None can have boldness to enter into the holy of holies but by the blood of Iesus It s Faith onely that interesteth in this blood I know that through the red Sea of this blood I pass may safely though enemies pursue me hard into the Land of promise Lord I confess through an evil heart of unbeleif I have many a time departed away from the living God yet Lord I believe help mine unbeleif O Lord of life be not far from me when Devils and death are near me Help me with thy servant Stephen to see Heaven open by faith and the Son of man at thy right hand Enable me to disclaim whatsoever duties I have performed or graces I have exercised and to rely alone on a crucified Christ for pardon and life Though thou killest me let me dye trusting and clinging on and cleaving to Iesus Christ Let this Pilgrims staff of faith be never out of my hand till I come to my joâ—rneys end Thou art the Lord of Hosts and the Captain of my salvation O help me to put on the whole armour of God grant me such skill to use it that I may be able to stand in the evil day Teach thou my hands to war and my fingers to fight that through thee I may do valiantly and through thee may tread down mine enemies Grant me so to finish my course to fight the good fight of faith that at death I may receive the crown of righteousness which the righteous judge shall give to all that love his appearing I Wish that my faith may ripen into full assurance that thereby I may depart with joy and an abundant entrance may be ministred unto me into the Kingdom of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Moses and Simeon could sing at their own funerals The great Apostle could call to be put to Bed expecting thereby his sweetest eternal rest How many Martyrs have gone more joyfully to dye then ever Epicure did to dine and leaped when they drew near the Stake believing that they drew near their home their happiness their heaven What is it O my soul that makes thee start and flinch back at the sight of this bug-bear What is there in death that is so dreadful to thee Is it the sweetness of life or the pain of death or thy future estate after death Consider them all seriously and then judge rationally whether any of these should make the sigh so loath to depart First The love of life need not make thee so backward to obey the call of death If all thy time were made up of Holy-days death would bring thee greater advantage The Garlick and Onions of Egypt are nothing comparable to the Clusters of Canaan But alas its far otherwise thy whole life is a civil death Thou art born to sorrow as the sparks flye upward Thy days are few but full of trouble The earth to thee is a valley of tears the cross is thy daily companion which accompanieth thee where-ever thou goest The sufferings of thy flesh are neither few nor small How many diseases in thy body losses in thy estate how much disgrace ignominy slander oppression art thou liable to The sufferings of thy spirit are more and greater Thine own sins the provocations of others the dishonour of thy God the wants and weaknesses and oppression and persecution of the Church
of thy glorious Majesty and the place where thine honour dwelleth There thou makest the largest discoveries of thy self and grantest the fullest communications of thy grace O let me take sweet counsel with thy people and go to serve and honour thee in their company I Wish that the Confederacy of the wicked in sin may provoke me to a league with the Israel of God for a free trade and commerce in holiness Shall they whose lusts are often contrary and set them at variance unite against God and his holy ways and shall not we whose graces are ever alike and of a cementing nature not joyn together for God and his Worship Do they conspire to defile and destroy each others souls as if vitiated nature did not lead them fast enough to sin or as if they could not run singly quick enough to Hell and shall not we encourage one another in the Worship of the living God and provoke one another to love and to good works O how much do the servants of Satan by their conjunctions in evil shame the Children of God for their backwardness in good Their Master is the Prince of darkness a cruel Tyrant a roaring Lyon that goeth about seeking whom he may devour Their work is far worse then any Turkish slavery its bondage to corruptionâ— the service of unrighteousness the diversity and contrariety of their Lords their lusts tearing them as it were in peâ—â—es for the promoting of their particular interests Their wages is the vengeance of the eternal fire the worm that never dieth and the fire that never goeth out after all their vassallage to their barbarous Masters and hardships which they have been put to in making provision for and gratifying such opposite furies they are recompenced with extremity and eternity of torments yet they can unite their hearts and hands and heads for the advancement of so hellish a Lord about the prosecution of so base and divelish a work and to earn so miserable a reward when the Souldiers of Christ whose Captain is the Lord of Hosts the most courteous and compassionate General whose combats and contests which they are called to are Noble and Heroick and whose Crown and Garland will be beyond all comparison and apprehension blessed and glorious do rather fight against themselves then against their enemies or for their endless happineâ— Ah foolish Christians who hath bewitched us May we not well blush that Satan should even out-boast the living God in the unity of his Subjects that the children of this world should be wiser in their generation then the children of light Alas is it a time for Mariners to be quarreling when their enemies are joyned in discharging their Cannons against them and the Bullets flie thick amongst them Is it a time for Christians to be wrangling when their Adversaries are united in a confederacy to destroy them all Lord thou hast promised that thy people in the days of the Gospel shall no more envy one another that the Wolf and the Laâ—b shall feed together and the Lion shall eat straw like the Bullock and dust shall be the Serpents meat that they shall not hurt nor destroy in all thy holy mountain Thy dear Son when leaving an ungrateful World left Peace as one legacy to his Children not onely peace with thee but also among themselves thou knowest how much his heart was set upon it when he begd so hard so earnestly so affectionately of thee this blessing a little before he went to lay down the price of it Let it please thee for thy Promise sake to make all thine of one heart and one way for because thou hast spoken it therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer before thee this day Let it please thee for thy Sons sake whom thou hearest always to take away all envyings and wrath and emulation and strife out of the hearts of thy people and heal thy Sion in its breaches for thou seest it shaketh I Wish that the injury I do my self by unnecessary solitariness may make me the more in love with good society My God hath told me Wo to him that is alone David was alone when Satan drew him to defile his Neighbours Wife Whilst the Sheep flock together they are safe as being under the Shepherds eye but if one stragle from the rest it s quickly a prey to the ravenous Wolf It s no hard matter to rob that house that stands far from Neighbours The cruel Pyrate Satan watcheth for those Vessels that sail without a convoy The order is observable in the narration of Demas his Apostacy Demas hath left us and hath embraced this present World He first left the Company of the faithful and then openly denyed the faith Christian conference is a good help to perseverance but they that forsake the communion of Saints will quickly disown the profession of sanctity If Rabbits keep within the Pales amongst their fellows there is Law to secure them against the violence of strangers but if any wander from the Warren they are a lawful prize for any man and prey to any Dog What an ill case is he in that travelling in a dark night falls and hath none to help him up that wanders and hath none to shew him the right way that is set upon by Theives and Murderers and hath none near him to defend and secure him Such is the condition of those that neglect the communion of Saints Hence it is that our great and sworn enemy raiseth the dust of dissention and strife amongst Christians to make them keep aloof from each other knowing that much of their welfare and safety doth depend upon their keeping together He knoweth its best fishing in troubled waters O my soul Now thou beholdest in these wicked days the high winds of divisions and passions amongst the Children of God how ready they are to Martyr one anothers names and it s to be feared to Murther one anothers bodies if infinite power did not over-rule and prevent it thou mayst gather assuredly that Satan was the Conjurer to raise them I have read of a Tree that if some of the boughs of it be cast into a Ship they cause a mutiny betwixt the Passengers and Mariners to the ruine of both Dost thou not think that Satan hath cast some such branches into the Vessel of the Church at this day that instead of uniting their strength against him and his Kingdom and instead of joyning their power to improve every gale for their furtherance towards their blissful Haven they might fall together by the ears destroy one another and save their enemies a labour O that for the divisions of Sion I could have great searchings great sorrows of heart Lord thy Saints in the Primitive times were famous for their love to each other Their very enemies would with admiration cry out See how the Christians love one another Thy Jerusalem heretofore was a City compact together at unity within
mischief they conceive for lack of the Midwifery of fit instruments and opportunities to bring it forth Good men are unable to act all the good they would because they want power and ability for Execution As Paul acknowledgeth that he was better at willing then performing but every man hath liberty to devise and meditate to study and contrive what he willâ— Though a mans hand or actions may be over awed and over-ruled against his own will yet his heart and thoughts cannot As he thinks in his heart saith the wise man so is he Pov. 13. 7. Practiceâ— may be swayed by outward ends but the thoughts are always genuine and natural Violence may cause the former but love carrieth the latter in its own way Hence good men have been signalized for Saints from the holiness of their thoughts They thought upon his name they meditate in his law day and night and they have even appealed to God with comfort upon their confidence of their uprightness from the goodness of their thoughts Try me O God and know my thoughts as being the purest and most unfeigned issues of the soul Mal. 3. 17. Psalm 1. and such as have least danger of infection from forreign aimes It s observable also that wicked men are set forth by this secret mark They devise mischief they imagine wickedness the thoughts and imaginations of his â—eart are evil God is not in all his thoughts because as Adam begat a son after his own likeness so doth the heart of every man beget thoughts according to its own likeness whether it be spiritual or carnal The Bowl runs as the Bias inclines it The Ship moves as the Râ—dder steereth it and the mind thinketh according to the predominancy of vice or vertue in it The more the fire of grace burns clear in the soul the more of these sparks will ascend towards Heaven The more earthly a soul is the more his thoughts will tend downward the more he will mind earthly things Philip. 3. 17 18. Naturalists tell us of the Gnomon commonly called the Mariners needle that it always will turn to the Northâ—star though it be closed and shut up in a Coffer of Wood or Gold yet it loseth not its nature So the true Christian is always looking to the star of Iacob whether he be shut up in a Prison or shut himself up in his Closet he is ever longing after Jesus Christ. A true lover delights most to visit his friend alone when he can enjoy privacy with him Our blessed Saviour doth not without cause call the Pharisees Hypocrites though they faâ—ted and prayed and gave much almes because they performed those duties chiefly if not onely in company and to be seen of men The applause of others was the weight that set their clocks a going when that was taken off as when they were alone they stood still Therefore Christ adviseth his Apostles to take another course if they would evidence the truth of their Christianity Enter into thy closet shut thy door and pray to thy father in secret One fervent prayer in secret will speak more for our sincerity then many in publique Mat. 6. â—â—it When a Prince passeth by in the streets then all even strangers will flock about him and look upon him but his Wife and Children think not this enough but follow him home and are not satisfied unless they can enjoy him there A false Christian and one that is a stranger to God if he have but a superficial view of him in his Courts is pleased but the true believer and one that is nigh to him in Christ must have retired converses with him in his Closet or he is not contented SECT III. I Come now to shew how a Christian should exercise himself to godliness in Solitude 1. If thou wouldst exercise thy self to godliness when thou art alone guard thy heart against vain thoughts This is the first work to be done without which all that I have to commend to thee will be in vain It s to no purpose to expect that a glass should be filled with costly wine when it s filled already with puddle water When the house before-hand was taken up by strangers there was not room for Christ himself in the Inne If such flies be suffered and allowed in our hearts they will spoil our best pots of Oyntment Some persons though poor when they are solitary delight in the fancies and imaginations of great preferments and pleasures and riches as if they were real whereas they are the meer Chimera's and Fictions of their own brains and have no existence but in their thoughts No wonder our Saviour saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Out of the heart of man proceedeth madness Mark 7.21,22 Such thoughts are distracted thoughts and sutable to those that are out of their wits who please themselves in thinking that their filthy holes in Bedlam are stately Palaces that their nasty rags are royal robes that their iron fetters are chaines of gold and the feathers stuck in their caps are imperial Crowns As the Spanish Page in an high distemper of fancy imagined himself to be some great Emperour and was maintained in that humour by his Lord so some foolish men build these Castles in the air and then allow themselves a lodging in them Others please themselves in the thoughts of sinful sports or cheats or unclean acts and sit brooding on such Cockatrice eggs with great delight It is their meat and drink to roul those sugard-plums under their tongues Though they cannot act sin outwardly for want of strength of body or a fit opportunity yet they act sin inwardly with great love and complacency As Players in a Comedy they act their parts in private in order to a more exact performance of them in publique Others entertain themselves with needless and useless thoughts such as tend neither to the informing the mind nor reforming the heart or life Like vagrants a man meets with these in every place but can neither tell whence they come nor whither they go they have neither a good cause nor do they produce any good effect Such thoughts might be in a Davids heart but they were the object of his hate Psa. 119. 103. I hate vain thoughts The best Christians heart here is like Solomons ships which brought home not onely Gold and Silver but also Apes and Peacoks it hath not onely spiritual and heavenly but also vain and foolish thoughts But these latter are there as a disease or poison in the body the object of his grief and abhorrency not of his love and complacency Though we cannot keep vain thoughts from knocking at the door of our hearts nor from entering in sometimes yet we may forbear bidding them welcome or giving them entertainment How long shall vain thoughts lodge within thee Jerem. 4. 14. It s bad to let them sit down with us though but for an hour but its worse to let them lye or lodge with us It s
jealous God to call him to an account Secondly Consider Gods eye is all the day long upon thee and therefore thou hadst need to be all the day long in his aâ—e It was a frequent speech of Seneca Vbicunque eo quodcunque ago Demetrium circumfero Wheresoever I go whatsoever I do I carry Demetrius along with me Thou mayst upon better grounds say Whatsoever I think or speak or act wheresoever I go whither to my Closet or Shop or Field or Neighbours Houses I have an holy jealous God along with me Thou mayst write over every room which thou enterest into Thou God seest me and call it by the like name which Hagar did the Well Beerâ—la-haroi The Well of him that liveth and seeth me Thou hast in all the passages of the day that God with thee who takes notice of and will reckon with thee for every passage Thou mayst call every place thou comest into Bethel or Penuel I have seen God in this house or God is in this place He is not like Iupiter of Creet whom some pictured without ears and publish never to be at leasure to take notice of small matters He is all eye all ear He observeth the greatest the smallest things and actions As the Optick vertue in the eye he seeth all and is seen of none Cicero tells us the King of Lydaea had a ring which when he turned the head of it to the palm of his hand he was invisible to others and yet others were visible to him The eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good though none hath seen God at any time nor can see him As a well-drawn picture which way soever you turn your self it seems to have its eye still upon you and to follow you God doth that really which the Picture doth seemingly he beholds every person and every action with so direct a face as if he beheld none or nothing else Reader It concerns thee to be every day pious who art all the day long in so holy a Gods presence I have kept thy precepts saith David for all my ways are before thee Psa. 119. 68. The Scholar will ply his Book when his Master is present though he play and prate in his absence The Thief will not steal when the Iudge looketh on He that was accused to force the Queen before the Kings face had a Gallows for his end If the eye of good or great men will prevail with us to be handsom and comely in our behaviour and carriage how holy should they always be that are ever in the presence of the infinite God who is cloathed with Majesty as with a garment and who is so holy that the Heavens are unclean in his sight If a King sitting upon his throne sâ—attereth evil with his eye how much more should the eye of a God! Prov. 15. The Sun locally in Heaven is virtually on Earth its light heat influence over-spreadeth the face of Sea and Land He that shuts his eyes and will not see the light of it doth feel its heat and influence Its presence scattereth Clouds and Mists and Fogs Though Gods glorious and most joyful presence be in Heaven his real essential and gratious presence is on earth they who put out the eyes of their reason and conscience and will not see him do yet feel him in their beings and blesâ—ings for in him they live and move and have their beings Shall not his presence disperse those clouds of sin which would obscure his glory and hinder the light of his countenance from shining on us SECT II. AS to the exercising thy self to Godliness on a week-day though what I have write in former Chapters in this and the two former Parts hath much prevented me yet I shall commend to the Reader six particulars First Begin the day with God Never expect a good day unless you begin with a good duty He hath the best good-morrow who meets Ged first in the morning Though some sunshiny mornings are overcast before night yet the Heavens are usually all day clear to him that sets out early in the way of Gods commandements The mind retains a tincture all day of its first serious exercise in the morning When the right Watch or Clock is wound up well in the morning it will be regularly going and moving all day after He that loseth his heart in the morning in a throng of worldly affairs seldom finds it to purpose in any part of the day It was the honoâ—r of Rusticuâ— that though Letters were brought him from Caesar he refused to open them till the Philosopher had done his lecture Surely the worship of the blessed God is of more worth in it self and of more concernment to us then any moral Philosophical Doctrines to him or any affairs whatsoever and therefore ought to be first minded and performed As soon as thou awakest lift up thine heart to Heaven Great and Noble persons are usually first served Though others that are our inferiours wait out leisure our Superiours have the precedency of our time Let the first Messenger thou sendest forth be sent to the Lord of thy life to present thy humble service and thanks to him for his providence over thee and the rest and refreshment he hath afforded thee the last night Thou mayst say with the Psalmiâ—t I laid me down and slept I awaked for the Lord sustained me For except the Lord keepeth the City the watchman waketh but in vain He giveth his beloved sleep Psa. 3. 5. and 127. 1 2. Be mindful also in some short ejaculation to beg his guidance protection and blessing all the ensuing day For 't is he that can make an hedge about thee thine house and all that thou hast If he bless the work of thine hands thy substance will increase in the Land Iob 1. 10. This small taste of ejaculatory prayer will quicken thine appetite after a full meal of â—et and solemn devotion If thou canst after this keep thy mind intent whilst thou art dressing thy self on some divine subject thou wilt be much the more fit for thy secret duties and in a fair way to walk with thy God all the day The next thing I would advise thee to or rather Câ—rist enjoyneth Enter into thy Closet and when thou hast shut thy Door pray to thy Father which is in secret and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly Here is 1. A Precept to secret prayer Pray to thy Father in secret The Priest was every morning to renew the Fire on the Altar and to offer Sacrifice And they offered burnt-offerings unto the Lord even burnt-offerings morning and Evening And they offered the daily burnt-offerings offerings by number according to the custome as the duty of every day required Ezra 3. 3 4. So also in Davids time Asaph and his Brethren ministred before the Ark continually as every days work required 1 Chron. 16. 33. Solomon took after his Father 2 Chron.
the form of a Serpent to Eve he appeared in the form of a Saint to the second Adam If he should be quiet yet our own flesh is free and forward to pollute and pervert us Were he at any time absent though I fear he never is but watcheth us night and day more narrowly then ever Keeper did his Prisoner for whose escape he was to die our own wicked hearts are his Deputy to supply his place and dispatch his business effectually for him Occasion and our own corrupt natures seldom meet but like two inordinate lovers they sin and defile themselves together The flesh is instead of a thousand traytours within the Garrison conspiring to deliver it up into the enemies hands who is resolved to give no quarter and is it not time for the Souldiers to be upon the guard and to keep strict watch Though both Satan and the flesh should grant a truce or cessation for a few hours which they never did nor ever will yet the world like an Harlot is always watching with her fair breasts of pleasure and profit to allure us to folly Like the Whore the wise man mentions She is subtle of heart and lieth in wait at every corner She catcheth the careless sinner and kisseth him and with an impudent face saith unto him I have deckt my bed with coverings of Tapestry with carved work with fine linen of Egypt I have perfumed my bed with Myrrhe Aloes and Cynamon Come let us take our fill of love until the morning let us solace our selves with loves With much fair speech she causeth him to yeild with the flattering of her lips she enticeth him He goeth after her straight way as an Ox goeth to the slaughter or as a Fool to the correction of the stocks Till a dart strike through his liver as a Bird hasteth to the snare and knoweth not that it is for his life O what reason hast thou Reader to watch who hast so many and such crafty and mighty adversaries every moment to encounter with Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation Believe it if thou sleepest the enemy will sow tares Watch thy self in thy Closet good duties must not be done between sleeping and waking Praying and Reading are not works that can be done nodding Therefore Christ saith Watch and Pray and the Apostle Continue in prayer and watch in the same Col. 4. 2. The Nightingale that delights her self in hâ—r night songs knowing if she should fall asleep she should be a prey to night-birds she keeps a thorn at her breast to keep her waking Watch in thy family among thy Relations Thy Wife and Children may be Satans instruments to wound thee Abraham caused Sarah to dissemble Eve brought Adam to undo himself and all his posterity The nearer the person is to us that dischargeth a piece at us the likelier to hit and the more dangerous the Bullet Watch in thy shop Satan lieth in ambush in every corner sin in every counter to defile and destroy thee When thou art in company when thou art alone at bed at boord when thou goest out when thou comest in keep thy heart with all diligence for under every pile of grass there is a Snail under every fig-leaf as Cleopatra found to her cost there is a poisonous Asp in every place there is a snare Watch against the Occasions of Sin They who have a brand or a candle flaming in their hands had need to beware of thatch and straw If the flesh and opportunity like Sechem and Dinah meet together they will not part unless there be the greater watchfulness before they are polluted It s ill to parle with the wicked one The French have a good Proverb When the Spaniards talk of peace then double bolt the door The greatest wounds that were ever made in conscience had at first but weak beginnings Davids horrid Murther and Adultery had their rise onely from a glance of his eye keep thee far from an evil matter Exod. 23. 7. The Crocodile say Naturalists is no bigger at first then a Goose egge and yet groweth to thirty Cubits An occasion of sin embraced but a little like a Thief in the Candle insensibly makes sad work and waste Watch especially against thy own sin This is as the Philâ—stines said of Sampson The great destroyer of the Country The great destroyer of thy Conscience Wise Governours of a Garrison besieged will take care of every part of the wall and repair the least decays thereof but if one gate be more likely to be entred then another or if one part of the wall be weaker then another they will be sure to set the strongest watch in that weakest place Our Soul is our Garrison committed to our trust by the Lord of Hosts to be kept for his use and service Satan is our enemy that besiegeth it to surprise it Sin is the Wall or Gate by which alone he hopes to enter and destroy us Our beloved sins the sins of our Callings or Conditions or Constitutions which we hug and cocker most which none must touch or reprove these are the weakest part of the Wall or Gate and so require a stronger Watch and Guard Take heed and keep thy soul diligently Deut. 4. 9. SECT IV. FOurthly Be careful to redeem time Look upon time as one of the most precious talents which thy God hath intrusted thee with and which he will reckon with thee for and therefore not to be vainly spent or needlesly squandred away They are worthy to be punished that spend their gold and silver lavishly and waste their estates prodigally but of how much sorer punishment are they worthy of that are prodigal and lavish of time that is far more precious then gold and silver Time is of inestimable value in regard of its present use and because when once lost it is irrecoverable Friends lost may be reconciled an estate lost may be regained but time lost can never be recalled He is the best workman that can cut his stuff to the least waste and he is the best Christian who can contrive his affairs and cut out his time to the least loss Remember that time is given thee not to squander away in needless visits or idle talking or long meals or unnecessary sleeping but to get thy person justified thy nature sanctified to secure thine interest in Christ and the Covenant of grace and heaven and surely things of such infinite weight deserve all thy time if thy life were lengthened to the age of Methuselah Sleep robs us of much time Friends saith one are the greatest thieves of time Vain discourse foolish sports and pastimes idle company sitting long at table must all like luxuriant branches be pared off because they suck the sap and juice away from the good boughs Walk not as fools but as wise men Redeeming the time saith the Apostle Col. 4. 5. Eph. 5. 16. It s an allusion to wise Merchants or Tradesmen who dealing for most precious
will be the more faithful all day when it knoweth before-hand that it shall be called to an account at night and the more conscientious we are in the day the more chearful we shall be at night Seneca reports of Sextius the Roman Philosopher that every night before he took his rest he would examine his soul Quod hodie malum sanasti Cui vitio obstitisti In qua parte melior es What evil hast thou this day healed what vice hast thou resisted in what part art thou bettered and then he addeth how sweet is the sleep which ensueth upon such a review As the Shop-keeper hath his day-book wherein he writes down what he buyeth what he selleth which he looks over in the evening so must the Christian that would thrive in his general calling at night reflect upon his well-doing his ill-doings his gains his losses left his books cast him up as some find by experience because he will not take the pains to cast them up The Merchant findeth it a ready way to make his Factours and Cash-keepers faithful to reckon with them frequently When great persons neglect to account with their Stewards they tempt them to be dishonest Our consciences are corrupted as well as other faculties and will be false if not timely examined Seneca acquaints us with his own practice which may shame many Christians Vtor hac potestate quotidie apud me causam dico Cum sublatum e conspectu lumen est conticuit â—xor moris jam â—ei conscia totum diem mecum scâ—utor facta ac dicta mea remetior Nihil mihi ipse abscondo nihil transeo quare enim quicquam ex erroribus meis timeam cum possim dicere Vide ne istud amplius facias nunc tibi ignosco In illa disputatione pugnacius locutus es Illum liberius admonuisti quam debebas itaque non emendasti sed offendisti I use saith he this authority and daily plead my cause with my self When the candle is taken away and my Wife acquainted with my custom is silent I search into the whole day and review all that I have said or done I hide nothing from my own scrutiny I pass by nothing For why should I fear any thing by reason of my errors when I can say See that thou do it no more and for this time I will pardon thee c. Pythagoras taught his Scholars to talk thus with themselves 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What evil have I committed what good have I omitted Reader let not them who knew not God rise up in judgement against thee Put every night some brief Qâ—eries to thy conscience upon these few heads How did I behave my self in Religious Duties in Natural Actions in my Particular Calling in Recreations if any were used in Company and in Solitude Compare the carriage of thy heart and life herein to the word and law of God bring all to the touchstone Hereby 1. Sin will be prevented The Child will be the more dutiful and diligent all day who expecteth to be examined by them that have power to punish or reward for every part of it at night The Christian will keep his heart as clean as the neat maid her house who is ever in fear of a severe mistress 2. Hereby if sin be committed it will speedily be repented of The wound will be healed before it be festered A disease is much more easily cured at the beginning then when it is habituated in the body Had David called his conscience to a serious account at the close of that day wherein he defiled Bathsheba he had prevented both much sin and much sorrow 3. Our hearts will hereby be the better prepared for evening duties The reflection upon the sins committed in the day past will make the streams of our sorrow to run the more freely Wounds when fresh bleed most Our Petitions also will be the more fervent for divine strength when we are newly affected with the sad consequence of our own weakness The more we feel our pain the more urgent are our cries for a Physitian A review of the mercies newly received will likewise enlarge our hearts the more in thankâ—fulness Divine favours like flowers affect us most when fresh and green Old courtesies as old cloaths are too often cast by and thought little worth 4. Hereby our souls will be always ready for our great accounts whenever God shall summon us to give it up The keeping a diary of Receipts and disbursements facilitates the Stewards annual reckoning with his Lord. They who make all even between God and their souls every day need not fear calling to account any day None will give up their accounts with such comfort at the great day as they that cast up their accounts with conscience every day Often reckoning will make long friends He that will not hear the warnings of conscience must look to feel the worm of conscience Sixthly Close the day with God in Praying and Reading his word both in thy Closet and Family Our bed is resembled to our graves sleep to death it s of worse consequence to go to bed before we have made our prayers then to our Graves before we have made our Wills God is the first and the last and ought to be the beginning and ending of every day Thou causest the out-goings of the morning and evening to rejoyce Some understand the inhabitants of East and West others the vicissitudes of day and night for which men rejoyce in God David was mindful of the Word at night I have remembred thy law O Lord in the night and also of prayer Evening and morning will I pray and cry aloud Psal. 119. 55. Psal. 55. 17. The sins of the day call for our mournful confession The mercies of the day call for our sincere thanksgiving The perills of the night call for fervent petitions so that none can want matter for a nights prayer Our wandrings and aberrations in the day may wellengage us to confession and contrition every night They who do not paddle in every gutter or thrust their hands into every ditch though they washed clean in the morning find them durty at night We cannot meddle with money but we foul our fingers nor about earthly affairs but we defile our soul. Infirmity bewrayeth it self in all the actions of fallen man We are steady in nothing but wantonness and wickedness The feet of men limp at best and are too slow to follow the Word of God close at the heels If we intend well in any action like arrows that are shot in mighty windsâ— we wander from the bow that sent it and miss the mark Now whilst the Ship leaketh the Pump must go Whilst we sin daily we must sorrow daily He is unworthy of the least favour from his Creditor who thinks much to acknowledge his debt Austin had Davids penitential Psalms written by his Bed-side which at night he used to weep and read to read and
teeth that it eateth out the heart of the strongest timber Flattery is to sin what Oyl to Fire it makes it flame the more O t is dangerous to speak peace where God speaks war shouldst thou do so the blood of such a soul would be required at thy hands Ezek. 33.8 Jer. 23. Faithful dealing will bring thee in most comfort at present and most credit hereafter as also be most advantagious to the sick person When the great day comes the man that hated flattery and scorned for a little profit or favour to disown his duty or prove false to the soul of his Neighbour will hold up his head with courage but the cowardly and fearful wil hang down their heads with shame Rev. 21. 8. 4. Pray with him and for him Sick persons are often full of pain and grief and are more then usually assaulted by Satan whereby they are the less able to pray for themselves and have the more need of the prayers of others It s observable that though the Holy Ghost commandeth men in other afflictions to pray themselves Is any afflicted let him Pray yet when he mentioneth sickness he saith not Is any sick let him Pray But Is any sick let him send for the Elders of the Church and let them pray over him Jam. 5. 13 14. i. e. A sick man is not so fit to pray himself he wanteth others to pray for him and with him The soul sympathizeth in the sufferings of the body and the inner man is seldom at rest if the outward man be distempered and disquieted The mind is unfitted for duties by the diseases of the flesh Paul calls his bodily weaknesses a temptation Gal. 4. 13 14. Afflictions on the flesh are temptations to the spirit and sickness is a piercing Arrow in Satans Quiver of temptations If the person be carnal what Motives hast thou from his misery to quicken thee to the duty The poor creature is going to Hell and knoweth it not His destruction is near and he is not aware How should the thoughts of that extremity and eternity of torments which he is every moment liable to stir thee up to be earnest and instant with God on his behalf It may be thou wouldst sit up a whole night to watch with him for the comfort of his body Dost thou not know that the soul is infinitely more worth O watch and pray that he enter not into eternal condemnation Thou art not ignorant that God hath made promises of grace as well as promises to grace and canst not tell but that grace waiteth in heaven for the â—ick person onely thy prayer must be the messenger to fetch it thence God hath shewn mercy at the last he can do it to this man therefore thou mayst have the more hopes Besides it may be his sickness shall not be unto death but onely to heal his diseased soul and so to give him a new life both natural and spiritual The Question before thee is whether that poor sick creatures soul shall be Christs or the Devils for ever and wilt thou not plead hard with God that it may be thrown in to Christ whose title is unquestionable and that the Grand and Arch-enemy of Christ and Men may be frustrated and disappointed in his expectation Zeal to the advancement of thy Redeemers interest and love to the soul of thy Neighbour should actuate and animate thy requests and put life and fervency into thy Petitions If the sick man be godly thou hast the more encouragement to pray God hath promised as much to him as thou canst rationally desire for him He hath hopes to speed that goeth to an honest able man and sheweth him his Bond for what he demands God is infinite both in righteousness and power so that there is no fear of a repulse if you can shew his hand for your request He delights to hear his promises pleaded in prayer and to see his Children so full of affection as to be fervent in their petitions for each other Thou mayst send the same message by prayer to Jesus that the Sister of Lazarus did Lord behold he whom thou lovest is sick and mayst be confident of the like gracious answer This sickness is not unto death eternal but for the glory of God that the Son of God might be glorified thereby Next to thy endeavours for the good of thy sick Neighbours spiritual estate it will be fit to advise him about his temporal estate that he may dispose of his worldly affairs and his wealth if God have given him any with wisdom and settle things so firmly that his Relations may not be wrangling for his goods when his body is at rest in his grave Secondly The exercising our selves to Godliness in visiting the sick consisteth in getting good to our own souls by it Though it be forbidden us to enquire of the dead and ask their counsel yet it s commanded us to enquire of the dying and to learn of them Sick men may teach them that are in health many excellent lessons Some say that ground covered with Ashes is made thereby the more fruitful The Dust of the dead falling upon a right soil an honest heart will make it the more abundant in holiness A Christian findeth walking in Hospitals or Church-yards among the sick or dying much conducing to the health and life of his soul. He that was cast dead into his Grave by touching the bones of dead Elisha he was ravished to life That which Elias said to Elisha when he begged a double portion of his spirit If thou seest me when I am taken from thee it shall be so unto thee may fitly be alluded to in this place The sight of others sickness and death and their departures from us is a great means to increase the spirit in us and to double our care and diligence in preparing for such an hour 1. In laying to heart thine own frailty He is but a cold clod of clay and dead already who doth not see his own death in the death of others Sickness is but one remove from death the sick bed is the way to the coffin therefore when thou visitest the sick or dying reflect upon thy self and consider This will be my case or a worse a violent stroak The same enemy that encountred my Neighbour is upon his march towards me and will certainly overtake me The feet of them that carry my friend to his grave are ready to carry me also what need have I to be always in a dying frame and ready for death The very next arrow that death shoots may be levelled at me and shall not I stand always upon my guard in expectation of it and armed for it O how deep will the head of that Arrow pierce me if it find me naked 2. In considering Gods mercy to thee and blessing him for the health thou enjoyest The pain of others will tell thee that ease is a mercy the racking sickness and restless nights
in my dealing and discourse with such men Lord thou knowest the poor silly children of men are unable to judge of eternal affairs according to their weight they are quickly lost when in their thoughts they begin to launch into that boundless Sea The ponderousness of the subject is ready to affright and press them down being so much beyond and above their shallow understandings But wouldst thou please to enable them though it were but to peep into the other world and to behold through some Crevice what is doing and enjoyed there both by thy friends and thine enemies they would soon have other thoughts of thee and thy service and other carriages when they are about thy work the greatest seriousness would then be too little the greatest ardour would not be thought enough for thy worship they would then indeed be fervent in spirit when they are serving the Lord. O teach thy servant though he cannot see into the other world with the eye of sense yet so to look into it with an eye of faith that he may transact the concerns thereof with that diligence faithfulness and fervency which thou acceptest and whilst he liveth be zealous of good works I Wish that my heart may be so affected with pity towards sick and afflicted persons that I may often and earnestly remember them in my prayers A little Captive considering the Leprosie of her Master was instrumental for his cure by crying out Would God my Lord were with the Prophet that is in Samaria for he would recover him of his Leprosie I have more reason when I behold a Leprous soul near its last gasp to look up to Heaven with Would to God that poor creature were with Jesus Christ that great prophet of his Church who is able and willing to enliven and pardon and sanctifie and save Would to God he would be perswaded to come to Christ to cling to Christ to close with Christ for he would recover him And what do I know but my prayers may be prevalent on his behalf Christ when dying prayed for his enemies for them that imbrued their hands in his blood and shall not I pray for my friends when they are dying and possibly ignorant whether they are going My Prayers are a cheap courtesie and diminish nothing of my estate either spiritual or temporal Their misery is an awakening motive to the duty Never did they stand in such need of help from others and wrastling with God on their behalves as now that they are taking their journey into a far Country and entring upon an unchangeable condition They may say to me as Nehemiah to Geshem I am doing a great work c. I am going to die to bid adieu to all the folly and vanity and comforts of this world to take possession of my long home of the place wherein I must abide for ever O pray for us that we may be pardoned and saved that we may repent and believe that we may die in the faith and obtain the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto life eternal They have many distractions upon their own spirits by reason of pains and bodily distempers and the loss and lamentation of their Kindred and Relations that they cannot poure out their hearts to God with that freeness and seriousness and earnestness which probably they desire Their enemies and assaults and temptations at such a time are more quick and strong and violent and full of rage having but a short time I must now pray for them or never pray for them Now beg mercy for them or never beg mercy for them When their life is gone all tears and cries and groans for them are in vain Davids greatest passions for dead Absolon were to no purpose They are then gone the way they shall not return and fixed in that place whence they shall never remove Lord I confess that my narrow heart hath not pity enough for afflicted and sick and dying souls and my weak hands have not power enough to supply or support them in their sad estates but thou hast both O be pleased to look down from Heaven the habitation where thine holiness dwelleth Behold their miseries hide thy face from all their iniquities out of thine infinite fulness releive their necessities Let the eyes of their souls be opened to see their sins and their Saviour before the eyes of their bodies be closed Give them patience and strength answerable to the burden thou layest on their backs Enable them to do their last works well and let them be better then their first Open thou their lips and let their mouths shew forth thy praise before they go to the place of silence Stand by them in their last conflict with their enemies Death and Devils that they may over come both be more then conquerours through him that loves them and pass through the jaws of death to the joys of a blessed eternal life I Wish that my soul may be the more sound for every visit I bestow on sick bodies There is not so much danger of catching their outward diseases as there is hope of increasing my spiritual health if I am not wanting to my self The sick and dying bed is a Pulpit out of which I may be instructed more fully in many serious truths though the sick or dying man be speechless King Joash obtained three famous victories over the Syrians by visiting sick Elisha and might have gotten a compleat conquest over them if it had not been his own fault The sight of sick and dying men may assist me in my conflicts with the three great enemies of my present purity and future comfort and bliss It teacheth â—e how vain it is to make provision for that flesh which will it self ere long be provision for wormes Ah how foolish am I to pamper and please that which instead of releiving or refreshing will in my extremity pierce and pain me It teacheth me that the world it self is the greatest Cheat and Impostour in the world That though it laughs and smiles on men dandling them on her knees and hugging them in her armes whilst they are in health and promising all sorts of comforts and pleasures yet in their sickness and misery she turns them off and leaves them as Absolons Mule did him to be â—hot through with the heart-cutting arrows of eternal death By discovering the emptiness and falseness of these two seeming ends the flesh and the world it helpeth me to overcome my third enemy and to repel the fiery darts of the Devil The cup of temptation which hath so often bewitched me to drink down his deadly poison had its prevalency from the worldly profit with which the out-side was guilded or the fleshly pleasure with which the in-side was sweetned Ah! could I but bid an hearty defiance to the World and the Flesh and conquer them I need not fear the wicked one They are the powerful Advocates by which Satan pleads and too often prevails with
Sons to peace lest they should lose the Kingdom he left his heir The Saint must conjure his Children to purity in the first place lest they lose their souls and the Kingdom of Heaven Mr. Robert Bolton on his Death-bed called his Children together Wisht them to remember the counsel he had formerly given them and he verily beleived none of them durst meet him at the great Tribunal in an unregenerate estate Mr. Sanders a little before his death in a Letter to his Wife writeth thus Dear Wife riches I have none to leave behind me wherewith to endow thee after this worlds manner but the treasure of tasting how sweet Christ is unto hungry consciences ' whereof I thank my Christ I feel part and would feel more I bequeath to thee and to the rest of my beloved in Christ to retain the same in sense of heart always O how pathetically how earnestly should dying Christians who know somewhat of the worth of grace and holiness and of the evil and end of sin and sinners perswade their Children and Relations to love and fear and serve the Lord when it s the last time that ever they shall advise or counsel them How hard should they woo that the souls of their Kindred may be married to Christ Secondly In commending thy self and others to God by prayer When the body breaths shortest it breaths quickest Though the Christian on his death-bed may want strength for long solemn devotion his short ejaculations should be both fervent and frequent The first thing a Child of God doth when new born is to breath to pray Act. 9. 27. And its one of the last things he doth Act. 7. ult He entereth praying into the place of praise Paul the Hermit was found dead saithe Ierom with his hands and eyes lifted up to Heaven that the dead corps seemed to pray Demus operam ut moriamur in precatione Let us endeavour to dye at prayer saith Austin 1. The sick man should pray especially for himself Lord Iesus receive my Spirit saith Stephen Father into thy hands I commend my Spirit saith Christ Lord saith dying Beza Perfect that which thou hast begun that I suffer not Ship-wrack in the Haven Children desire to dye in their Fathers bosome or on their Mothers lap Mr. Perkins died begging remission of sin and intreating mercy at Gods hands Bishop Vsher was often heard to desire the like end that Mr. Perkins had which he obtained for the last words which he was heard to utter were But Lord in special forgive my sins of omission not long after which he expired Luthers prayer a little before his death or rather thanksgiving was Pater mi caelestis Deus Pater domini nostri Iesu Christi ago tibi gratias quod filium tuum Iesum Christum mihi revelasti cui credidi quem sum professus quem amare c. My Heavenly Father the God and Father of my Lord Iesus Christ I thank thee for revealing thy Son Iesus Christ to me whom I have beleived whom I have professed whom I have loved Others must not be forgotten by us but our own souls must in a special manner be remembred Bellarmin tells us of a desperate Advocate in the Court of Rome who being exhorted on his death-bed to pray to God for mercy made this speech Lord I have a word to say to thee not for my self Ego enim propero ad inferos neque enim est ut aliquid pro me agas For I am hastening to Hell neither is there any thing that I would beg on my own behalf but for my Wife and Children This he spake saith Bellarmin who was then present as boldly as if he had been taking his journey onely to some neighbouring Village 2. For his Relations The more hot our affection is to any the more fervent our petitions should be for them Praying Parents are the most loving Parents When dying chiefly they should bless their Children in the Name of the Lord. So Isaac did Gen. 28. 1. Thus Iacob Gen. 48. 15 16. Godly Parents may plead the Covenant made to them and theirs unto God on their Dying Beds with comfort They are best acquainted with their Childrens conditions conversations wants weaknesses and so fittest to open their cases to God and to beseech grace on their behalves that they may be an holy seed a generation arising to shew forth his praise Christ when nigh death committed his spiritual Children to his Father and earnestly begged his care of them and favour for them Holy Father I come to thee I am no more in the World but these are in the world Keep them thrâ—ugh thy name keep them from the evil sanctifie them through thy truth So should a godly Father or Mother when dying Lord I am leaving my poor Children in the midst of snares and temptations and miseries I am coming out of the world to thy Majesty where I shall be above all frights and fears and beyond all malice and mischief but my children are in the world and will dayly be environd with allurements and affrightments with assaults and batteries from their spiritual enemies thou knowest the power and policy of the world and the wicked one the treachery and deceitfulness of the flesh within them and their weakness and inability to wrestle with and overcome the flatteries of the World and the suggestions of the Devil O keep them through thy name that they may look beyond the World live above the World and expect and eye their portion and happiness in a better World Though they live in the World let them not live as the World but walk all their days as heirs of another World Keep them from the evil of â—in however it please thy Majesty to deal with them about the evil of Suffering Give them the Shield of Faith whereby they may quench the fiery Darts of the Devil Let thy Covenant of grace be their portion thy love their cordial and thy Mansion-house their eternal possession Be thou their Father to direct protect govern and provide for them and give them a name in thy house better then of Sons and Daughters O sanctifie them through thy truth that they may be saved and may meet me with joy at the great day Luther when dying made this Will for his Wife great with Child and his little Sons O Lord God I thank thee that thou wouldst have me to be poor in this world I have no House Land or money that I should leave them Thou hast given me Wife and Children I restore them to thee Do thou O Father of Orphans and judge of Widows nourish teach keep them as thou hast hitherto me 3. For the whole Church of God It s good to pray by our selves but its ill to pray onely for our selves When we are dying and going to the Church triumphant we should be sure to put up some requests for the poor members of Christ and the Church
answerable to my peril and my danger Lord when that day and hour draweth near that I must go hence and be no more seen do thou draw near in boundless mercy to my poor soul When I must enter into the Chambers of death and make my bed in the grave save me from the paws of Satan and the power of Hell that the bottomless pit may not shut her mouth upon me and give me to triumph in that hour of tribulation as knowing that neither tribulation nor persecution nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor life nor death can seperate me from thy love which is in Christ Jesus my Lord. I Wish that when I am going to the place of silence I may speak the excellencies of my God and make his praise glorious It is the unhappiness of worldlings and wicked men that they cannot when they dye commend the principles whence they have acted nor the vain pleasures which they have minded and pursued How many of them whose lives have been nothing but a bundle of false-hood and lies when God hath called them to leave the world have spoken truth and told their Friends and Relations that sin is an evil and bitter thing that carnal pleasures are guilded poisons that the greatest and choicest of worldly comforts though they may have honey in their mouths have a sting in their tailes and what a vain empty nothing the whole creation is How often have they complained how the world hath deceived them the flesh deluded them and Devil beguiled and destroyed them It is my priviledge as well as my duty to extol my Master whom I have served to commend the sweetness of his ways the pleasantness of his worship the reasonableness of his precepts the richness of his promises and the vastness of that portion which he hath laid up for his Children when they come to age I have sometimes tasted his work and ways to be sweeter then the honey and the honey comb I have viewed by faith his reward to be vastly glorious and beyond all apprehensions excellent O why should I not diswade others from their eager pursuit of foolish fading shadows and perswade and encourage them to earnest endeavours after real substance and durable riches The sinner who hath wallowed all his life time in the mire of filth and wickedness will when he comes to dye and begins to return to his wits from his own experience of the emptiness and unprofitableness of his ungodly courses and from the convictions of his natural conscience acknowledge a sober sanctified conversation to be safest and the ways of God to be most gainful and upon these accounts advise his friends and relations to forsake and abandon the lusts of the world and flesh and to follow after holiness as they would be happy eternally And have not I much more cause to shew my abhorrency of sin and love to my Saviour and his image when I am entering into my Fathers house The sinner hath onely found at last a fleshly life to be vain and fruitless and is like to pay dear for his learning but I have known the paths of piety to be paths of pleasantness and rejoyced more in them then in all riches The sinner hath onely the dim light of nature to shew him the loathsomness of vice and the loveliness of grace but I have the holy Spirit of my God to enlighten my mind in the knowledge of both The sinner hath only a carnal love to his Neighbours and Kindred he knoweth not what it is to love them in Christ and for Christ I have some knowledge of the love and Law of Christ of the worth of their souls of the price paid for them by the Lord Iesus and their unchangeable conditions in the other world O that my language to them might be somewhat answerable to the love of Christ to me Lord It is unrighteousness to die in debt to man and not to endeavour to make them satisfaction according to my power I am sure to dye in thy debt for I am less then the least of all thy mercies and unable to requite thee for the smallest of thy favours It is my comfort that all the recompence thou expectest is a thankful acknowledgement and hearty acceptance of thy grace and good will O what injustice and ingratitude were I guilty of should I deny thee so small a request Be pleased to help thy servant in his last hours both to accept unfeignedly of thy grace for his own good and to acknowledge thy good will and bounty and faithfulness to thy glory for the good of others I Wish that my lost breath may be drawn Heaven-ward I mean that I may enter praying into the house of blessing and praise I am no Christian if I do not give my self to prayer whilst I live It is one choice piece of my spiritual Armour whereby I have often assaulted and conquered my soul-enemies It is the Ambassadour which I have many a time sent to the heavenly Court that always received a favourable Audience and obtained his errand It is the Vessel which hath brought me food from far and ever returned richly laden if it were not my own fault It is the element in which I live the aliment by which I subsist the pulse the breath of my soul without which it must needs dye On my death-bed I have as much need of its succour as at any season My adversaries will then imploy their greatest power and policy to rout and ruine me I am but weak flesh and blood altogether unable to combat with Principalities and Powers and how can I expect supplies from the Lord of Hosts unless I send this Messenger to intreat it My wants and weaknesses at such a time will be more then ordinary Faith must then be acted in spight of all the frights and fears which a malicious Devil and an unbeleiving heart from the number and nature of my sins the strictness of the law and the justice of God may put me to Repentance must then be exercised and my sins lye nearer my heart then my sharpest diseases In patience I must possess my soul under all the pains and pressures which the wise God shall lay upon me I must then chearfully submit to the divine pleasure and by my willingness to leave all the world to go to Christ shew that I hate Father Mother Wife Child House Lands Life and all for Christ. Those graces and many other must be put forth at suâ—h a time none of which I can do by my own power and therefore have abundant cause to fetch help from Heaven by prayer Besides the distempers of my body will discompose my soul and unfit it in a great measure for all holy service Again my Benefactors my near Friends and Relations the poor afflicted Church of God do all call aloud to me to pray for them as the last kindness I shall ever do for them I profess
course will be hindered Indeed as God could preserve our bodies without food or any sustenance by his omnipotent power as he did Moses and Elijah forty days together but he will not where he affordeth ordinary means So he could preserve our souls in life without ordinances but he will not where his providence giveth us opportunity to enjoy them Reader I must say to thee as Iacob to the Patriarchs Behold I have heard that there is Corn in Egypt get you down thither and buy for us that we may live and not dye Behold thou hast heard there is spiritual food in Heaven the Son of Ioseph hath his granaries full of Corn go thou thither daily by sacred duties that thy soul may live and not dye There is a sensible decay of the strength in Husbandmen whose work is great upon one days abstinence If tradesmen grow careless of their business and neglect their Shops they quickly decay in their estates When Christians grow careless of duties and neglect their Closets t is no wonder that they decline in their spiritual stocks When the Moon hath her open side downward she decreaseth but when her open side is upwards towards Heaven she increaseth in light There is no growing in grace and holiness but by conversing with Heaven Grace like Armour may easily be kept bright if it be daily used but if it hang by the wall it will quickly rust and cost much time and pains to scoure Much fasting takes away the stomach and omission of Closet duties at one time makes a man more backward to them and dead about them another time When a Scholar hath plaid the Truant one day its difficult to bring him to School the next day Fear and Shame both keep him back when he comes thither he is the more untoward about his book Our deceitful hearts after they have discontinued holy exercises and are broken loose are like horses gotten out of their bounds not found or brought back without much trouble When an instrument is daily plaid on it s kept in order but if it be but a while neglected and cast into a corner the strings are apt to break the frets to crack the bridge to flye off and no small trouble and stir is requisite to bring it into order again We read of the Iews daily sacrifice which was Morning and Evening Exod. 29. 38. and 30. 7 8. David was for Morning and Eveningâ— and Noon-tide Psa. 55. 17. Daniel was three times a day upon his knees Dan. 6. 10. In the Morning the Saints were at their devotion which is thought to be the third hour when the Holy Ghost descended on the Apostles Act. 2. 15. This is deemed to be our ninth hour The midle or mid day prayer was termed the sixth hour which is our twelfth Ioh. 4. 6. At this time Peter went up to the house top to pray Act. 10. 9. The evening Prayer was at the ninth hour which is our three a clock in the After-noon Now Peter and John went up together into the Temple at the hour of prayer being the ninth hour Act. 3. 1. So Cornelius Act. 10. 30. At the ninth hour I prayed in my house Some think the Primitive Christians had these three hours in such regard and use that thence they were termed Canonical hours David tells us Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgements Psa. 119. 164. The more frequent a Christian is at holy duties supposing he doth not make the commands of God to interfere and neglect his calling and family when his presence is required in them the more thriving he shall be in his spiritual trade The oftener we go to the Fountain or River the more water we bring thence As Runners in a Race do daily diet their bodies and use exercise to keep themselves in breath that they may be more able and active when they run for the wager whereas if they should neglect it they would grow pursie and shortwinded and unlikely to hold out when they run for the Garland So Christians who would hold out to the end and so run as to obtain must be daily feeding and dieting their souls and renewing their strength by these means which God hath appointed As the Sun is the cause of life and groweth in vegetables so is the Son of God the efficient cause of motion and growth in Christians where the Son is present in any soul there is spiritual moâ—ion and growth budding and blossoming and bearing fruit but when the Sun with-holds and with-draws when this Sun departs the soul is at a stand Now Ordinances are the means whereby the Mediatour conveys heat and life and growth to men CHAP. XI Means whereby Christians may exercise themselves to Godliness Frequent Meditation of the day of judgement A daily Examination of our hearts Avoiding the Occasions and Suppressing the beginnings of Sin SEvently If thou wouldst exercise thy self to Godliness Meditate much upon the day of Iudgement They will prepare themselves best to the battel who always hear the sound of the last trump in their ears Zisea that valiant Captain of the Bohemians commanded his Country-men to flea off his skin when he was dead and to make a Drum of it Which use saith he when ye go to battel and the sound of it will drive away the Hungarians or any of your enemies Could the Christian but with Ierom hear the sound of the last trumpet in his ears at all times it would encourage him in his spiritual warfare and enable him to fight manfully and to cause the enemies of his salvation to flee before him He who can frequently by faith view the Judge sitting on his Throne of Glory hear the last trumpet sounding behold the dead raised the books opened the godly examined by the Covenant of grace all their duties graces services sufferings publiquely declared approved and rewarded the wicked tried by the Law of works all their natural defilements actual transgressions in thought word and deed which ever they were guilty of with their crimson bloody circumstances openly revealed their persons righteously sentenced to the vengeance of the eternal fire and that sentence speedily without the least favour or delay executed on them will surely loath sin as that which brings him certain shame and torment and follow after holiness which will be his undoubted credit and comfort at that day The Apostle writing to the Iews concerning the terror of that day how the Heavens must pass away with a great noise and the Elements melt with fervent heat the earth also and the works therein burnt up makes this use of it Seeing then that all those things shall be dissolved What manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness And again Wherefore beloved seeing ye look for these things be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace without spot and blameness He had need to be exact in his conversation who must
thy pains Encline thine ear unto wisdome and apply thy heart unto understanding Yea if thou cryest after knowledge and liftest up thy voice for understanding If thou seekest her as silver and searchest for her as for hid treasures Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God For the Lord giveth wisdom and out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding Prov. 2. ver 2 3 4 5 6. Did men but spend that time and strength about the knowledge of God which they spend in endeavouring to raise their families and advance their parties and interest and to suppress them that in their apprehensions stand in their way we should quickly have a Nation as famous for peace and love and holiness as now it is notorious for divisions and prophaness CHAP. XIII Means whereby Christians may exercise themselves to Godliness A contented Spirit Avoiding those things that hinder Godliness THirteenthly If thou woulst exercise thy self to Godliness Labour to get a contented frame of heart A setled fixed frâ—m of heart as to all outward occurrences is like Ballast to a Ship which will help it to sail trim in all waters whereas a discontented spirit is as a light smal boat in the Ocean tossed about with every blast and always in danger of drowning I doubt not but the great Apostles diligence to learn this lesson perfectly I have learned in what state soever I am to be contented I know how to be abasâ—d and how to abound Philip. 4. 12. was a special means of his extraordinary growth and proficiency in grace It is generally observed that peevish persons whom nothing pleaseth are usually lean and thin in their bodies but those who are of chearful tempers and not overmuch troubled with any disasters are thriving and healthful The discontented soul whom eveâ—y heat or cold above ordinary puts into a fright or fever will rather decline then increase in his spiritual health but the Christian who is ever chearful in his God and Saviour and lives about these lower things as one indifferent about them will never be hindered by them in his work of holiness As a sickly man is hindered in his journey by every storm and ready to run to an House or stand under an Hedge at every shower so is a discontented person ready to turn aside or stand still at every unexpected providence when a contented man like a lusty resolved travellar keeps on his course whatsoever weather comes Godliness requires a contented mind to grow in 1 Tim. 6. 6. It is said of the Pelican that she is caught by the Shephards in this manner They lay fire not far from her nest which she finding and fearing the danger of her young seeks to blow out with her wings so long till she burns her self and makes her self a prey out of foolish pity to her young So many men out of unwise pity to their relations and possessions when they are at any time in danger for want of this contented spirit and qâ—iet submission to infinite wisdom trouble themselves so much and so long about them till they make themselves a prey to Satan and no whit preserve or secure those persons or things about which they are so immoderately anxious and sollicitous Whilst we are in this world we must expect various winds some sharp some warm some nipping some refreshing some with us some against us and unless we are prepared for all by an holy pliableness we shall be injured by every one Every strong wind whether with us or against us will be ready to overturn us if we want this ballast There is no condition in this life so blessed as to afford the perfection of content and yet there is no estate in this life so wretched but a Christian may be contented with it If thou hast as much as thou wantest thou hast as much as in reason thou desirest and therefore hast cause to be contented The way to true Riches saith Plato is not to increase our heaps but to diminish the covetousness of our hearts It were well for the world saith another if there were no Gold in it but since its the Fountain whence all things flow it s to be desired but onely as a pass to travail to our journeys end without begging Every man is rich or may be so if he will equal his mind to his estate and be but poor in his desires He that hath most wants somthing as Haman when he had the commander of one hundred and twenty Provinces at command He that hath least wants nothing if he want not a contented spirit He that can bring his heart to an even poize in all providences will avoid many temptations and escape many snares in which others are entangled The want of this renders many a mans life as unserviceable to God as uncomfortable to himself The discontented person like the Sea is seldom seen without storms and tempests A small mattâ—r puts him out of order and joynt and so unfits him for spiritual actions As hot Iron the smallest drop sets him a hissing like a rufled skein of silk every way taken to compose him entangleth him Discontent like Ink poured into a Bottle of Water turns all into blackness O Frind beware of it It hinders from praying A discontented man will rather poure out his passions then any sober prayers before the Lord. It hinders examining our selves Though quiet and calm waters will like a glass if we look into it shew us the image and likeness of our selves yet troubled and muddy waters will make no such representation Though the heart when calm and contented may shew us the face and features of our souls yet if muddied by discontent they cannot do it It hinders from hearing The noise of passion drowns the voice of the Preacher Men must with meekness receive the ingrafted word if they desire it should save their souls Iam. 1. When a Fountain is troubled there can no Water be drawn out of it but what is filthy and unsavoury When a person is discontented all his duties are distasâ—eful and unacceptable to God Therefore Christ more then once diswads his Disciples from it Let not your hearts be troubled Let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid Joh. 14. 1 27. Diogenes resolved since many evils would befal him to keep himself steady in all he would oppose Resolution to Fortune Nature to the Law his Reason to his Affections But the Christian hath a better guide and better grounds for contentedness There be several thoughts which may quiet and compose the heart in all occurents 1. That Infinite wisdom ordaineth whatsoever befalleth me and the present condition that I am in is ever best for me If a greater portion of outward good things had been good for me I had had it my Father is not so careless of his Children as to deny them any thing that is good for them and if it be not good for me why
Sun or a word which signifieth a ray which is darted in a moment from one end of the Heavens to another Such speed doth our life make to pass away Cardinal Bellarmin when he had a full prospect of the Sun going down to perceive the quickness of its motion took a Psalter in his hand and before he had twice read over the 51. Psalm the whole body of the Sun was set whereby he concluded the earth being twenty one thousand miles in compass the Sun must go seven thousand miles in half a quarter of an hour However the Cardinal might be mistaken in his reckoning Yet Mans days are swifter then a post they flee away they see no good They are passed away as the swift ships as the Eagle that hasteth to the prey Job 9. 25 26. It s our shame and misery that our days should be so swift and we so slack that our time should be as speedy as a post or ship or Eagle and our hearts as slow about our eternal concernments as a Snail Our negligence herein speaks us brutish and void of common sense Reason will teach him that followeth its directions to be most industâ—ious about matters of such importance The Heathen Historian can agree with Scripture in this Vita nostra sicut fabula non refert quam diu sed quam bene Our life passeth away as a tale that is told it matters not much whether it be long or short but whether it be well or ill Surely it concerneth thee Reader to make Religion thy business and work the work of God when thine everlasting happiness dependeth on it and thy time is so short that thou hast to do it in In the days of Ptolomeus Philopater when the huge and great Anchor of the Ship Thalmegos was laid out upon the shore the Children of Alexandria did ride upon the stalk and crept through the ring of the Anchor as if it had been made purposely for their pastime whereas wise men knew it was appointed for better uses namely to stable and make sure the great vessel in storms and tempests Truly so do too many serve time they play and toy and trifle it away as if God had given it to them for that end when he who hath but half an eye as we say may see that it was given for better purposes viz. to furnish his soul for his eternal voyage and thereby to help to stablish and fasten him when he shall lanch into the stormy Ocean Protogenes made himself ridiculous in the judgement of all that are sober for spending seven years in drawing Ialisus and his Dog for though the most excellent Pictures are longest in drawing yet to spend years about that which may be finished in days argueth want of wisdom But having spoken somewhat largely to this in the sixt Chap. I am the more brief in this Thirdly Consider the examples of others who have wrought hard at this heavenly Calling Cicero tells us Nothing prevailes more with men then similitudes and examples Indeed worthy patterns are of great power Thucydides brake forth into tears out of love to learning upon hearing Herodotus read an history that he had written Themistocles tells us The statue of Miltiades would not suffer him to sleep Alexander was much provoked to valiant acts by reading the prowess of Achilles and Hector in Homer Cesar was so stirred to courage by reading the conquests of Alexander in his youth that he wept for anger that he had done nothing worthy of himself at that age Iron put into the fire is turned into fire conâ—ider therefore the Prophets and Apostles of the Lord how diligent they were at their duty how hard they wrought for God The great Apostle was indefatigably industrious for his soul and his Saviour Consider him in reference to his outward man how unwearied was he at his Masters woâ—k and in reference to his inward man how zealous how fervent in spirit serving the Lord From Jerusalem to Illyricum I have preached the Gospel His travails are computed to be 12970. miles He gives us when necessitated thereunto a brief Catalogue of his actions and passions for Christ. Are they ministers of Christ I am more in labours more abundant in stripes above measure in prisons more frequent in deaths oft Of the Iews five times received I forty stripes save one Thrice was I beaten with rods once was I stoned thrice I suffered shipwrack a night and a day have I been in the deep In journyings often in perils of water in perils of robbers in perils by mine own Countrymen in perils by the Heathen in perils in the City in perils in the wilderness in perils in the sea in perils by false brethren In weariness and painfulness in watchings often in hunger and thirst in fastings often in cold and nakedness besides those things which are without that which cometh upon me daily the care of all the Churches Who is weak and I am not weak who is offended and I burn not 2 Cor. 11. 23. to 30. Reader think thou hearest the Apostle speaking to thee as once to the Corinthians Be ye followers of me as I am of Christ. How did our blessed Saviour work the work of him that sent him while it was day He went about doing good Godliness was his meat and drink I have meat to eat which ye know not of My meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work He wrought so hard that he forgot to eat his bread and was taken by his kindred to be mad It was his sleep and rest He went into a mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God He prayed with strong cries and groans And being in an agony he prayed the more fervently He was taken to be about fifty years old when he was little above thirty so much was he worn out with labour for his God Act. 10. 38. Ioh. 4. 34. Luk. 6. 12. Mar. 1. 34. Heb. 5. 7. Mar. 3. 20. O Reader let Christ be the Copy after which thou wilt write and the pattern which thou wilt follow and be a follower of others as they are of Christ Jesus Did Christ work so hard for thee did he lose his food and sleep and wear out himself that his strength was dried up like a potsherd and his heart was melted like wax in the midst of his bowels and wilt not thou spend and be spent for thy Saviour I would say for thy own soul for in serving him thou servest thy self Think of it when thou art trifling away thy time and neglecting thy spiritual watch and dull and dead in holy duties how eager and earnest how zealous and sedulous thy Lord Jesus was in working out thy salvation he did not play nor dally about the work of thy redemption but made it his business and did what he was called to with all his heart and soul and strength CHAP. XV. The excellency of this Calling and the