due and holy Order cheerfully with thy Heart In hearing apply each speech as spoken by God to thee in particular Like a Practiser of the Art of Memory refer all things to their proper place If it be matter of comfort this is for my sick Bed for my outward losses for my drooping under affliction for the Sence of any Spiritual Defection If matter of Doctrine that is for my settlement in such a Trust for the conviction of such an Error for my direction in such a practise If matter of Reproof and threatnings against Sin whether thy own or others as a member of the same Body or in danger thereof be humbled do not point at thy Neighbour but deeply charge thy self This meets with my dead heartedness and security with my Worldly mindedness Self-love and Flattery of my own Estate This with my uncharitable Censoriousness with my foolish proud Heart That with my Hypocrisie and the neglect of Gods Service and my Duty That with my Irregular Life and Conversation Resolve to walk in every good way and to depart from all evil This is the best Art of Memory for exceeding Joyes Griefs Hatred or desires do leave the deepest Impressions in us and so stick longest by us In hearing therefore labor to exercise Humility under Reproofs Rejoycing in all the Promises Thankfulness for Mercies Desire after Graces and holy Resolution of amendment and more close walking with God As thou returnest home or when thou art entred into thy House Meditate a little while upon those things thou hast heard and then kneeling down turn all into a Prayer beseeching God to pardon thy Sins of Worship to accept of thee and thy Imperfect performances in and through Christ thy Lord to give such a blessing to those things which thou hast heard that they may be a direction to thy Life and a consolation to thy Soul Eat Moderately at Dinner rather sparingly than plentifully on this day That thou may'st be fit for the afternoon Exercises Som little and short Discourse about Temporal things upon occasion may be so directed and temper'd with Pious Meditation as that it may rather be a furtherance than hindrance of the Duties of Religion and indeed such Business or Discourse in such a manner doth not withdraw the Mind from God's Worship But be sure that in all thy Speeches and Actions this day there be no lightness nor Vanity nor any thing unbecoming the Solemnity Sacredness and Seriousness of it Walk half an hour after Dinner to digest thy meat and then go to thy Chamber and recollect what you remember of the forenoon Sermon If you are well be sure you attend on God's Ordinances Fore-noon and Afternoon Ps 92.1 Acts. 20.7 For so often exercises of publick Worship ought to be held After evening Sermon retire to thy Closet read the Chapters in which the Texts were then recollect and examine what you have heard meditating on the whole Sermon in order The Coherence and Explication of the Text The occasion and meaning The chief Sum and Scope of the Holy Ghost in it The Division or parts The Doctrines severally by marking the Text and how they were gather'd out of it The Proofs and Reasons of the several Doctrines The Uses And lastly which is the chief of all apply it to thy self and try what work every part hath in thee If the Preacher's Method be too curious or confused then labor to remember How many things he taught which thou knowest not before and be thankful What Sin he reprov'd whereof thy Conscience tells thee thou art Guilty and therefore must be confess'd repented of resolv'd against and amended What Virtues he exhorted to which are not so perfect in thee and therefore thou must indeavour to practice them with more Zeal and Diligence After the finishing of thy Closet exercise or as a preparation to it thou mayest walk in the Fields and Meditate on the Works of God for in every Creature thou may'st see the Wisdom Power Goodness Providence and Justice of God Pray to God that he would open thy Eyes so as thou mayest give him the Glory of his Works Especially consider these things more fully in their several Ends and Uses as the Scriptures apply them Be sure to return so early as neither thy Closet nor Family Devotions if not perform'd be omitted Works of necessity may this day be perform'd and works of Mercy thou art not to forget Such as Visiting the Sick Instructing Exhorting Admonishing Reproving Comforting Relieving Collecting c. To conclude Thou may'st certainly expect that God will proportion his Blessings to thee as thou measurest to him in thy Preparation to come before him Lev. 10.3 22.3 Ex. 19.22 Mal. 7.2 Mar. 4.14 Psal 44.5 Isa 56.58 Ez. 7.10 Gen. 35.2.5 Ec. 4.17 1 Cor. 11.23.24 Mat. 5.23.24 Therefore as thou desirest the Blessing of a Sabbath so resolve by a constant Vow to perform thy work of Preparation and try whether the Lord will not perform his Promise abundantly Examin thy Life thou shalt find that a strict and diligent observation of the Duties of this day has ever joyn'd to it a Blessing upon the rest of thy time and the Week that is so begun has been blessed and prosperous Whereas when thou hast been negligent of the Duties of this day the rest of thy Week has been unsuccessful I could easily saith Judge Hales make an Estimate of my success in my own Secular Employments by the manner of my passing and spending the Lord's day On Wednesday or Thursday evening set some time apart for Recollecting and Reviewing what thou did'st hear and lay up in thy mind the Lord's day past this will rivet the Word the faster in thy Memory and put thee in mind to practice it A Prayer for the Morning QVicken me O Lord that I may call upon thy Name prepare my unprepared Heart by the Blessed Influences of the Spirit of Grace and Supplication O most holy and most glorious Lord God the Almighty Maker and careful Preserver of all thy Creatures but especially the Saviour and Sanctifier of them that Believe by the Merit and Efficacy of the Blood of Jesus Christ I sinful Dust and Ashes dare not of my self lift up my Eyes to Heaven yet through thy dear Son my Saviour come unto thee according to thy Command and Promise freely acknowledging that I am less than the least of all thy Mercies and therefore utterly unworthy of the inestimable favour of being thy Child and a fellow Heir with Christ that after suffering a little here I should Reign with him for evermore For thou know'st O Lord that in Sin I was conceiv'd and born and that I have lived ever since in Iniquity I am by Nature the Child of Wrath a Vassal of Satan an Enemy to Thee my God It was thy great Mercy that I escaped thy Wrath due unto me at the very instant of my Birth in respect of that Mass of Corruption which I brought with me
A Christian's Journal OR Brief Directions FOR DEVOTION AND CONVERSATION Brevis Praedicatio longa Comminatio Actio perpetua Denique quid verbis opus est spectemur agendo LONDON Printed for the Author and sold by R. Bentley in Russel-street 1684. TO THE Right Honourable The LADY PHILIPPA MOHVN Baroness of Oakhampton Madam I Humbly present to your Ladyship these few Gleanings which I have gather'd and ty'd up into this little Sheaf I am not asham'd to acknowledge that much of it is none of my own In Divinity all men must be Borrowers and no man knows more than what is Reveal'd the Ambition of Discovery has been one of the chiefest grounds of those many Heresies and Schisms with which the World is at this day over-run and the Church divided And to me 't is no great wonder when men dispute Wisdom with their Maker when soaring Wits will not stoop and submit to the plain Truths of the Gospel but think themselves able to correct Scripture and find out more New and Easie wayes to Heaven than our blessed Saviour or his Apostles have ever inform'd the World of that so many Wander and Miscarry You have here Madam set down the thoughts of several Learned Divines upon the same Subject Various Rules from divers Hands directing our Practice and yet all of them so Weighty as I doubt not but your Ladyship will confess few of them could have well been omitted You will find men of different Opinions here All consenting to further Holyness of Life It is the mischief Madam of our Days that men are too much of a Party in Religion and regard not so much what is said as who is the Preacher So that 't is as dangerous to quote Charnock or Owen in the Pulppit as Mead or Sanderson in a Meeting This Madam is one Reason why I conceal Mens names that the Reader may be no way byass'd by them And I have indeavour'd so to mingle different Parties that 't will not be very easie to discern the Bishop from the Doctor or the Coat from the Cassock that so men that are set upon Quarrels may Fight in the dark where 't is odds they mistake their man And this Madam is the only excuse I have for hiding my self in the Croud of your Admirers among whom you have not Madam A more Real humble Servant Covent Garden Sept. 15. 1683. Errata P. 31. l. 13. for a r. as P. 51. l. 5 6. r. Imaginations P. 54. l. 20. No Comma after Containing P. 74. l. 5. for your r. Our P. 86. l. 1. blot out the. P. 89. l. 9. for to r. by P. 95. l. 18. r. with P. 100. l. 18. r. delight most P. 121. l. 7. for thy r. the. P. 134. l. 2. for all r. ill P. 139. l. 6. for Neither r. Never P. 180. l. 14. No Comma after in P. 243. l. 13. r. bring us that P. 246. l. 17. for bat r. that P. 258. l. 5. no Comma after best P. 280. penult for knowest r. knewest CAP. I. Introduction Sect. 1. THE best way to please God the nearest and readiest way to Heaven and to get a chearful Heart in the mean time till we come thither is to walk with God in all Uprightness to live by Faith which is to frame our Life according to the Will of God revealed in his Word This God commands to Abraham Gen. 17.1 I am God all-sufficient walk thou before me and be thou upright This is commended to us by a Cloud of Examples of Enoch Noah Job David Zacharias c. Then a Man is said to walk with God when he daily goes on to repent of his Sins past when he believes in Christ for Pardon and believes his Word for Direction when he sets God before him and walks always as in his presence not after the Flesh but Spirit not to the will of Man but God Sect. 2. Everyday is a little Life bound with the Night and Morning as with Birth and Death one Day is the Brief of the whole and the whole but a Day repeated A good Christian first turns himself to God by Prayer alone then with his Family then to his Calling to his Society Eating and drinking and at Night returns ro his rest in all these walking Godly Soberly and Righteously This is the sum of Life and of the ensuing Manual wherein Directions are offered for each of these particulars which may not be without their use especially to such who are not better provided How to begin each Day IN the Morning when you awake accustom your self to think on God or something in order to his Service let thy fist thoughts be for Him who made the Night for Rest and the Day for Travel who has given thee rest preserved thee while thou slept and renews his loving kindness to thee every morning thankfully acknowledge the Mercies thou hast received and earnestly pray for those thou standest in need of Prayer is the best Key to open the Morning and the surest Bar to shut up all at Night A Heart early perfumed with Gods presence will savour of him all the day after Arise as early as the necessity of thy Body or Mind will permit according to the Example of our Blessed Saviour Joh. 8.2 Matth. 1.35 This Practice will be for the Health of thy Body for the advantage of thy Spiritual and Temporal estate hereby thou wilt have the day before thee and gain the fitest season and large Portions of time for the exercise of Religion and works of thy Calling besides thou wilt be more able and active for any employment Too much Sleep hurts the Brain dulls the Wit impairs the Memory and makes a man more slothful like the Drunkard who becomes more dry through excess The time betwixt your waking and arising may profitably be employed in occasional Meditation While your Body is dressing not with effeminate Curiosity nor yet with rude Neglect let your Mind address her self to her ensuing Task bethink what is to be done and in what order and because every day thou shalt surely be assaulted by the World the Flesh and the Devil fail not to put on thy Spiritual Armour prescribed Ephes 6. from the 12. to 18. that thou mayest be able to resist Consider what temptations thy Business or Company are most likely to lay thee open to the day following and Arm thy self with Resolution against them And again what occasions of doing Service to God or Good to thy Neighbour are most likely to present themselves and resolve to embrace them And Lastly thou may'st consider thy self with thy Equals either in Estate Age or other Circumstances what are thy particular failings what thy Natural Infirmities what those things are in thy Words Actions Behaviour and whole manner of Life which diminish thy Reputation and make thee less than thy Equals and what thy aims and ends are with the Rules of Life thou hast set thy self This is likewise a fit time to call to mind what
and secure in so extream danger nor lulled asleep when I am even ready to be utterly swallow'd up but let me ever be preparing and buckling on my whole Armor that I may stand fast in this evil day and preserve my self until the Conquest be gotten and I Crowned O let me never deceive my self by imagining my case to be good when I am but a Carnal Worldling or meer Hypocrite but Lord help me daily but especially before thy Sabbaths to examin and try my Spiritual Estate how I grow in all Graces in more sincere obedience to all thy Commands Faith in all thy Promises and in the power of all true Godliness That I may hereby not only avoid all Hardness of heart Lukewarmness Sleeping in Sin prevent an evil Conscience with the dreadful Punishments thereof and be kept from Satans power but also may get strong Consolation may be every day more filled with content and delight in thee increasing in Love to thy Majesty People and Ordinances in Zeal for thy Glory and Kingdom full of Life and Cheerfulness in accomplishing all thy good pleasure and submiting my self to thee only and thy gracious direction in all things having my Eyes and Faith fixed upon thee believing thou wilt always watch over me for good thy Fatherly care shall feed and supply all my wants thy faithful and powerful Protection make me safe and thy wise and holy Providence order all things for my advantage in the end Save me O Lord from backsliding from thee after the manner of this evil Age and preserve me from all the causes thereof conceitedness of the goodness of my State standing at a stay in Religion neglect of any means of Grace especially the Word and Sacraments unfaithfulness in my Calling committing or living in any known Sin without speedy Repentance Grant me to Glorifie thee according to my Knowledge of thee and so to love and practice thy Sacred Truth that thou mayst never leave me or in judgment give me up to vile Affections a Reprobate Sence or the strong delusions of Anti-christ And now O Lord as I am in duty bound I do here present unto thee from an humble heart this my Evening Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving for all thy Goodness and Mercy to me a poor miserable Sinner that I was born and live in the shining Light of thy glorious Gospel and am not as others under the darkness of Popery and Tyranny of Antichrist in all Afflictions and Misery That I have any measure of Peace in my Spirit when I might have been in continual horror of Conscience for my Sins and left unto the power of Satan that thou hast granted me health and sufficiency of the things of this Life many kind Friends about me my good Name and Credit preserved and thy Blessings in any measure upon my labours whereas thou mightest have smitten me to have lain continually Bed rid tormented with most loathsome Diseases and Sores or like a poor Lazar to have begged my Bread from door to door yea to have layn without in the Streets or in Prison hungry naked thirstie as many better than my self do destitute of Friends in the midst of cruel enemies odious to all my Name rottenness and my labours accursed and what is more than all this that thou shouldst continue all those kindnesses unto me notwithstanding all my unthankfulness great impenitency and hardness of heart and altho' I have profited so little by the means of Grace thou hast so long vouchsafed me both of thy Word and Ordinances thy Judgments Mercies Fatherly Chastisements and Corrections so that thou might'st in Justice have shut up all thy Loving kindness in heavy displeasure and have cast me off as one in whom thou takest no pleasure it is thy Goodness thy Goodness alone which is the Fountain whence all those rich Mercies flow unto me And that thou mayst receive all the Glory shall be the constant Prayer and indeavour of thy Servant all the daies of his life to the which I do here solemnly engage and bind my self in thy Sacred Presence beseeching thee to Sanctifie unto me this night's rest that I be not troubled with any Terrors or weakened with any Sickness or impoverish'd by any Casualities or Crosses but that being defended under the Shadow of thy Wings and by the Protection of thy holy Angels I may be secured both from the Assaults of Satan and the designs of evil Men. Into thy holy Protection and Custody O Father I do here commend my self and all that through thy Goodness do belong unto me beseeching thee both to hear and grant these my Requests and all other things needful either for my self or any Member of thy whole Church for thy dear Son Jesus Christ my Lord and Saviour's sake to whom with thy self and the Blessed Spirit be all Honour and Obedience from Generation to Generation Amen Our Father c. FINIS